Beer Board Meeting sparks debate

A Lewis County Beer Board meeting was held on August 11, 2020 in which a beer permit for LaToya Coleman was considered for the use of an over-night festival on 830 Walker Road.

The festival is planned to consist of a Spanish-style rodeo and live music, where the music is played during the rodeo and attendees could camp out until the next morning.

Controversy struck when it was discovered that the man who owned the property, John Herriott, also owned Whispering Oaks.

Whispering Oaks is described as a “21 and older, ALL MALE, clothing optional Club,” on their website, mywhisperingoaks.org.

Coleman said she did not know the affiliations of the land owner until she had already signed the contract to rent the event space.

“When it was presented to me, they were wanting to bring things in that you would only find in California and Las Vegas,” said Coleman, “I told him, ‘Well, I come from a Christian background... I get you some return on your investment, but I will never be involved in any of those things. Everybody will be clothed, everybody will just have nice, clean fun... Me, personally, I don’t judge what you do, but that’s what I do. But I shouldn’t be penalized because of the landowner.”

Coleman also stated the land she had rented did not adjoin Whispering Oaks, they were separated by multiple properties and was called Meadow Creek.

Soon after, James Walsh presented a packet of information that was organized from a group of citizens who lived in the same area, asking for the Beer Board to deny Coleman’s request for a beer permit.

The packet consisted of three main reasons; (1.) Falsification of information on Application, (2.) Morals, (3.) Safety/Health/Fire/Police. It also contained documentssuch as a screenshot from California Megan’s Law website, showing Herriot as a registered sex offender in the state of California.

In response to this information, Coleman made it clear that she had no idea he was convicted of such a crime and reassured attendees that the event could be regulated as 18 and older.

“As I said earlier, I had no idea who I was getting involved with until the contract was already signed,” said Coleman.

The document states that safety is a concern due to Walker Road not being maintained by the county. Walsh then described the road as being chert and too narrow for large amounts of traffic to safely pass through.

The document went on to say that Hohenwald Fire Department, Lewis County Highway Patrol, and ambulances were at least twenty minutes away from the property, if need were to arise.

Another safety concern made by the organized group was the gathering of a group of people during COVID-19.

After hearing both sides’ argument, two of the three Beer Board members that were present, Renee Odom and Chanda Graves, both voted to deny Coleman the permit.

“At this time, I feel that, and this not a personal attack toward LaToya, but there are lots of safey concerns whether it be for citizens or the road is not up to par... At this time I have to say no,” said Graves.