Looks like they’ll sell alcohol longer as well
August 3, 2009 by SNEditor
Filed under Happening Now, Starkville
Thanks for the head’s up from a SN reader. He pointed out the following:
From the e-packet:
HOURS OF SALE DISCUSSION:
Current Ordinance 2005-2; 2006-8a; Section 4/Code Sec. 10-39. Hours when sale is prohibited.
No beer or light wine shall be sold for on-premises or off-premises consumption on Sunday, or between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 7:00 a.m. on Monday through
Saturday, except that the legal hours shall be extended on Friday from 12:00 midnight to 1:00 a.m. on Saturday, and on Saturday legal hours shall be extended from 12:00 midnight to 1:00 a.m. on Sunday. Further, the legal hours for on-premises consumption only shall be extended to 1:00 a.m. on those weekdays wherein Mississippi State University has a home football game.
(Ord. No. 2005-2, § 4, 8-2-05; Ord. No. 2006-8a, 8-30-06)2009-03 Proposed language for revision to Ordinance 2005-02; 2006-8a, Section 4/Code section 10-39.
Section 4: Hours when sale is prohibited.
No beer or light wine shall be sold for on-premises or off-premises consumption between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. on Monday through Saturday and from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Sunday.
In addition to Sunday sales, they cutoff time for weekday and Saturday alcohol purchasing will be moved from Midnight/1AM to 2 AM across the board. Sunday will have an 11AM-10PM window.
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The wording on this is wrong. The way I read that is no alcohol will be sold from 11am to 10pm.
Section 4: Hours when sale is prohibited.
No beer or light wine shall be sold for on-premises or off-premises consumption between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. on Monday through Saturday and from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Sunday.
This section is wrong. The heading and first part indicate when alcohol CANNOT be sold and the then lists when it CAN be sold on Sunday.
“No beer or light wine shall be sold for on-premises or off-premises consumption between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. on Monday through Saturday and from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Sunday.”
I think we have a misprint here. If it’s not sold from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Sunday, that prohibits Sunday sales.
Looks like the newly elected officals are bigger drinkers than the last ones!
Personally, I’m for the sales,but the timing is wrong.
Most candidates said the election should NOT be a referendum on alcohol, yet, that is the first thing they are doing, which is alienating many when we have more important issues to address.
We should fist be talking about a new muni complex- police and city hall facility- the BOA should be spearheading that to get the 60% + 1 vote for a referendum.
Unfortunately, they choose for the first public hearings of there tenure to be for Sunday Sales. This will alienate many who are against alcohol but see the need for a muni complex. Couple that group with Sherwood Forest and Academy Rd residents who have been alienated regarding rezoning issues, and it makes the 60%+1 voted needed to pass a referendum for the muni complex less likely.
Time will tell, but so far, they are cutting their noses off in spite of their face by tackling Sunday sales first.
MIADawg, nice catch! Maybe the city wants to limit Sunday sales to before 11 AM and after 10 PM.
in my opinion, the previous board should have voted on the issue and not let it go to referendum. but i digress.
i don’t see any harm in them bringing this up. to make the assumption that citizens are going to lump seven day sales and a muni-complex together and make it difficult to pass seems a bit of a stretch.
and we always talk about alienating those that are against it. why haven’t we talked about the alienation of those that have been for it? they pay taxes just like everyone else yet they are ignored on an issue for fear of alienating someone else.
and don’t forget, this doesn’t force restaurants to be open on sunday to serve alcohol. it is still a choice those businesses can make. and really, shouldn’t it be about giving the option to our local business owners to make the decision that is best for them? everyone is trying to find news ways to create revenue so why not give them the option to see if it helps them make a little more money. and who knows, maybe having sunday sales will make those that come to starkville for football on saturdays consider staying the night and getting some brunch before heading back home.
sales tax revenues were down last year. why not see if this can help offset that loss?
GoState04, while I understand your argument and agree the timing of everything will hurt perception, if you look at things from a purely economic standpoint this makes sense. As you correctly point out, there is a laundry list of things that need to be addressed in Starkville, but Sunday sales is one of the few items that can be addressed quickly and, at the same time, increase tax revenue to help pay for other improvements.
With that said, I really hate that there are people petty enough to let a Sunday Sales vote sway their allegiances on items as important as a new municipal complex, but I know they are out there.
i just verified that the above text was printed incorrectly in the packet that was sent out. the text should read that it will be prohibited from 2:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Sunday and then after 10:00 pm
on Sunday.
my understanding is that the times proposed, except for sunday, are the times in which the state says it is legal to sell. i believe state law allows for sales from 7am to 2am every day.
Like I said, I am for sales- you don’t have to convince me of that.
When it comes to a referendum, everyone should realize just HOW TOUGH it is to get 60% + 1 vote. Although Wiseman beat Henderson hands-down, he still did not get 60% of the total Mayoral vote. The hospital bond issue passed by just a handful of votes, whereas the last muni complex referendum failed by a similar margin.
I remember the last BOA voting for a muni complex- to have a petition started by citizens that successfully forced the issue to a public referendum. You’ll probably see a similar attempt on either of these two issues.
All I’m saying is the alcohol issue could have and SHOULD have waited until after addressing the muni complex. However, you know as well as I that the main reason for attempting this right of the bat is people might not feel as strongly about it/forget about it 4 years from now at election time.
my understanding of petitions is that they hold no sway if the board decides to vote on an issue (word of mouth of a ruling by the attorney general.) so, the BOA could have voted on the issues thereby nullifying the petition.
as for getting it out of the way, i can’t argue with them wanting to be done with it. at least it will get me out of their hair about the issue.
There are only a few instances when the citizens can petition for a referendum and the issuance of certain types of bonds is one of those.
GoState04 is absolutely accurate. The previous board was faced with a peition and had to hold a referendum. That referendum subsequently failed by about 20 votes.
I did not realize they were seeking to extend Mon-Sat sales to 2AM vs Midnight/1AM.
Sounds like they are taking the bull by the horns.
Bulls are dangerous! Guess if they have their way we can all stay out way past our bedtime now. Rick’s here I come.
Interesting meeting- standing room only and strong opinions. Tupelo & Columbus TV both aired the recap- they were sure playing it up. They even caught a great shot of one man with his finger in the face of a woman outside City Hall. This sure is giving us the image we need as the new #1 in the Triangle- you know, bringing our city together! Reminds me of the time when Harry and Leroy from Possum Town were shown on the 10PM news threatening to whoop each others #$$ during a supe’s meeting.
If it is true that adversity makes you stronger, our new city officals should get some real on the job training from handling this single issue. I don’t have a problem with Sunday sales but I am wondering why the change in distance from schools and churches. Is the City planning to sell the current electric dept. building to someone who wants to put in a new bar and this could be a problem because of 1st Methodist?
I would love to have a champagne brunch available on Sundays or a glass of wine with dinner on Sunday evenings in Starkville so I do not have a problem with Sunday sales. But it does seem that a change in the open container law needs to come under close scrutiny for possible additional liability to the City.
I think the change in the distance has to do with the possible development of Lampkin St. and the south side of Main St.
Is the problem being too close to 1st Baptist’ Family Life Facility?
Isn’t it 150 ft now? 100 ft is not far at all- 33 yds vs 50 now.
As Lola points out, the FBCFLF would affect the available corner parcels to the N and E of it- the S is already grandfathered in for Rosey Baby’s. The only other spots on Lampkin affected are around City Hall/1st Baptist and down at 1st Methodist intersections- the new Central Station would not be affected- too far away from any Church.
There is some reason the distance requirement is being looked at other than “brining distance in line w/ MS ABC requirements”. Fact is, ABC sets the MINIMUM distance requirements, not the max.
do extra building owned by a church come into play when measuring the distance or does the measurement occur from the front door of the actual worship building?
i believe that someone is working on a map to show the distances and how it would affect downtown and should be presented at the next BOA meeting to help further clarify.
was anyone besides myself disturbed that two people correlated extending hours with gang rape? i doubt there is any evidence supporting that fact but to bring up such a violent and traumatizing event to try and win support is borderline heartless. i know i was uncomfortable.
It was a little… strange, Mark. Actually, I was more disturbed with the notion of shooting a cop because of alcohol? How disturbing!
Maybe I didn’t get the exact point of inflated stories of violence and turmoil in our community, but I can say that there was not a single opponent of the vote for Sunday sales who did not bring up religious preference as a basis for this argument. Even one specific lady, who I admire for her persistence and passion in city issues, claimed that it was “just wrong.” Morals and religion as a platform can only hurt the opponents of the vote. You would think that safety issues wouldn’t be exaggerated so much so we can get a realistic perspective on the effects of introducing 7-day sales to our community, but that issue alone is the backbone that could keep this vote from going pro-Sunday sales, I guess.
Mark- agreed. That was not a direct correlation and was simply used to inflame the issue.
Playing devil’s advocate, it’s true most crime stats prove the majority of violent crimes occurred by people under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, but there is not a direct correlation to state that selling on Sunday will cause this behavior.
We have alcohol already- that issue has been decided. If alcohol’s wrong, it’s wrong regardless of the day of the week. The issue is whether it is right to limit the sale one day per week.
I do feel this issue is polarizing our city at a time the BOA needs to be building conscencus. It is what it is, though.
GoState04,
“it’s true most crime stats prove the majority of violent crimes occurred by people under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol”…show us the stats. I just do not believe that is the case. Yes, many crimes are related to drugs or alcohol, but I do not beleive that “most” can be attributed to alcohol. I agree with the “if it’s wrong, it is wrong ever day of the week” comment. Great point.
Does anyone know about the Family Life Center question? If that is considered a “church” in the ordinance?
JM, I checked on the FBMS Family Life Center. As I understand the regs, that is counted as a church. In addition to the actual church/school buildings, parking lots of the church/school buildings are also included.
First Baptist Family Life Center, that is.
.
Thanks Lola.
Did a google for “alcohol related crime stats”.
Chose the 1st 2 for the US that popped up:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/youthdevelopment/DA3228.html
Univ of MN Study. (this is just alcohol- not mainstream drugs) Also, there is more out there, but I don’t have time to write a thesis
Crimes:
55 - 75% of homicide victims and
40% of rape offenders had been drinking at the time of the incident;
50% of those who commit sex abuse crimes also abuse alcohol.
Suicides:
80% of all adolescent suicides have been reported to be children of alcoholic parents.
http://www.marininstitute.org/alcohol_policy/violence.htm
I am for 7 day sales- you either sell it or you don’t. Period.
HOWEVER, in playing the devil’s advocate on the last post, I feel people are not being honest with themselves when they say no relationship exists between alcohol and crime- it does.
The 7day sales issue has nothing to do with that. THE issue is, If you sell it, you sell it.
here is the wording of the current policy:
On-premises consumption. No beer or light wine shall be sold for on-premises
consumption within 250 feet of the property line of any church or school
property functioning as a church, school, or child care facility and
adjacent parking. This distance shall be measured by proceeding on foot from
the nearest point of the building where beer or light wine is sold to any
church or school property functioning as a church, school or child care
facility and parking lots adjacent to these primary facilities.
the great thing about this is that we now must define what “functioning as a church…” actually means. does that mean actually having a service or does it mean any place where two or more are gathered?
after thinking about the last b of a meeting, i had to go online to say i am proud i live in a city where so many people think it important we become an even more progressive, inclusive community. harry freeman, especially, was eloquent.
i agree with those who comment on whether or not these times for public intake are actual hearings. so many limitations are put on the speakers. those making remarks seemed to be much more courteous than those at the table. the current mayor seems to be very fond of using his gavel.
administration, would you please repost the link to the believe video? i wanted to share it. that video is a true reflection of this progressive, inclusive community.