LEXINGTON — A Grant County circuit judge has ruled that the tiny city of Corinth doesn't have the right to let voters decide whether they want to allow alcohol sales at restaurants.

        And some city officials aren't happy about the decision they say halted a developer's plan to build a golf course, hotel and restaurant in the city of 180 residents.

        Judge Stephen Bates rejected efforts to let city residents decide whether large restaurants — seating 100 or more and deriving at least 70 percent of their income from food — could serve alcohol.

        In his untangling of a vague 2000 state law that provides dry cities with the option, Judge Bates ruled Monday that the statute pertained only to fourth-class cities or counties that contain a fourth-class city. Corinth is designated as sixth-class.

        Mayor Billy Hill's hopes were flattened by the ruling.

        “It's left a very sour taste in our mouths,” he said of his constituents. “I understand the law they're citing is vague — it doesn't exactly spell out, "Yes, you can,' or "No, you can't.' But if you do not give people the right to vote, you've taken away their last right.”

        Property owner Anna Francis Dalton had sued Grant County officials for not putting the issue on the ballot after more than 52 Corinth residents signed a petition for it.

        Ms. Dalton's attorney, Robert Gettys of Covington, said his client intends to appeal the decision. The developer, Landmark Golf East, could not be reached for comment.

        But local authorities who have communicated with the developer said the firm would not consider locating in Corinth until it went wet.

        Mr. Hill said Corinth has watched progress in the fast-growing county pass his city by, and the defeat of the golf course development was “a slap in the face.” Local officials attribute its stagnancy to the city's hilly topography, lack of a natural gas line and small population.

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