local option

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

lo′cal op′tion, 

1. a right of choice exercised by a minor political division, as a county, esp. as to allowing the sale of liquor.

• 1875–80

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

local option noun

1. (esp in Scotland, New Zealand, and the US) the privilege of a municipality, county, etc, to determine by referendum whether a particular activity, esp the sale of liquor, shall be permitted there