Sunday alcohol vote clears first hurdle in Hartsville

The Hartsville City Council gave overwhelming preliminary approval Tuesday to an ordinance aimed at putting a public referendum on the Sunday sale of alcohol in Hartsville on the November general election ballot.

The vote came on first reading of the ordinance with council member Billy Shirley casting the only negative vote.

The council combined what had been two proposed separate ordinances, one covering restaurants and bars for on-premises consumption on Sunday, the other covering grocery and convenience stores and other stores that sell beer and wine for off-premises consumption on Sunday. City Manager Natalie Zeigler said that move was in response to a request from the Hartsville Hospitality Council, the organization which originally requested that a referendum on Sunday sales be placed on the ballot in November.

Even if city voters approve Sunday sales of alcohol, liquor stores will not be able to sell on Sunday. They are controlled by state law.

Representatives of the Hartsville Hospitality Council appeared before council on Feb. 2 during a council work session and requested a referendum for alcohol sales by the drink and prepackaged alcohol. The group stressed that it was not asking the council to vote on Sunday sales or to endorse the idea, but to place it on the ballot for Hartsville residents to vote on.

The group sees Sunday alcohol sales as something that would boost Hartsville’s economy for restaurants and other businesses and that would help stem the flow of dollars from Hartsville to surrounding communities that allow Sunday alcohol sales.

"Hartsville is losing revenue each week to Florence, Sumter, Camden and Columbia,” Suzanne Galloway, a spokeswoman for the hospitality group and owner of the Midnight Rooster restaurant in downtown Hartsville, told the council at the Feb. 2 work session. “Not only are business owners losing this revenue but so is the city. I think we all agree that keeping money local will benefit the local economy.”

Galloway said that if voters approve Sunday alcohol sales the city would stand to gain additional accommodations and hospitality tax revenue, as well as a portion of revenue generated by the $3,050 annual local option permit fee paid by restaurants and bars that wish to sell alcohol on Sundays. Convenience stores and grocery stores pay a $2,200 annual permit fee to sell alcohol on Sunday. She said the money the city receives from the permit fees can only be spent in Hartsville for tourism-related activities, which she said would help make Hartsville a destination location.

“We feel there is a clear need for this vote,” group spokeswoman Brandy Stellingworth said at the Feb. 2 work session. Stellingworth is the owner of Retrofit sip-n-seat, a repurposed furniture shop and wine bar and one of downtown Hartsville’s newer businesses. “As a young professional, I can definitely understand the frustration that Sonoco, Duke Energy and other large employers feel when they say they can’t keep young talent in Hartsville. As a business owner, I can tell you that many of my customers have expressed to me that Sunday is a time for family and relaxing. They wish they could go someplace to enjoy their family while having a glass of wine with dinner or a beer during football season on Sundays. Obviously, this simply isn’t possible in Hartsville. Not on Sunday.”

Stellingworth said that 20 counties and 24 municipalities in South already allow Sunday alcohol sales by the drink and prepackaged alcohol.

“All we are asking for is the opportunity to ask the voters to decide,” she said.

The Hartsville Hospitality Council is a group made up of business people, professionals and others. The group was formed in 2014. Businesses represented include restaurants, bars, hotels, grocery stores and convenience stores, among others.

The council will take up the matter again at its March meeting. That is when the ordinance will come up for a public hearing and a final vote on second reading.

If the ordinance is approved and a referendum held, only registered voters who live within Hartsville’s city limits will be eligible to vote in it.

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 10:47 PM with the headline "Sunday alcohol vote clears first hurdle in Hartsville."