It is now up to registered voters in Clarendon County to decide the issue of whether or not restaurants and businesses already licensed to sell alcohol may begin continuing that practice on Sundays.
Clarendon County Council members approved unanimously Monday night an ordinance which allows a referendum to "determine whether the South Carolina Department of Revenue may issue temporary permits to allow for the possession, sale and consumption of alcoholic liquors by the drink to bona fide nonprofit organizations and business establishments authorized to be licensed for consumption-on-premises sales and to allow the sale of beer and wine at permitted off-premises locations without regard to the days or hours of sales," according to the language of the ordinance.
What it means is that restaurants will be able to serve alcohol within their establishments, while grocery and convenience stores will be able to sell beer and wine to customers for at-home consumption. Non-profit entities who are holding special events on Sundays will also be able to serve alcohol, if and only if they are already authorized under the state's licensing authority.
Clarendon County Administrator David Epperson said in July that the language of the ordinance hinges on the business or store already having an alcohol permit. He said a business that comes into Clarendon County several years down the road would have to apply for a regular alcohol permit before then applying for the special Sunday permit, should the referendum pass.
“To the best of my knowledge, a business owner would have to have that regular permit first, and then there are several types of special permits to sell on Sunday,” Epperson said. “There’s a temporary permit, and there’s a way to convert your regular permit to a Sunday permit. But they’d have to have the regular permit first.”
Epperson said that, if voters pass such a referendum, then communities within Clarendon County who do not currently allow the sale of alcohol will not have to change their local ordinances or make the sale of alcohol legal within their boundaries.
“This allows residents to decide whether they would allow businesses who currently have alcohol permits to be able to apply for an additional permit or amend their current permit to sell alcohol on Sundays,” Epperson said. “This will not require any business, if it passes in November, to sell on Sunday, if a business because of their beliefs or overall business does not want to sell on Sunday.”
He said that it would also not require businesses in Turbeville to sell on Sunday. Currently, Turbeville has a town ordinance that prohibits the sale of alcohol within town limits, barring stores and restaurants from any alcohol sales.
“Since none of the Turbeville businesses currently have alcohol licenses, they wouldn’t be able to apply for a Sunday permit anyway, so it wouldn’t affect them,” Epperson said.
Clarendon County Council Chairman Dwight Stewart said Monday night that county council could only decide the issue of whether or not to have the referendum. He said council members held three readings and a public hearing, the latter of which featured two persons speaking in favor of the ordinance and none against.
"We cannot spend any money to promote this up or down," said Stewart. "It is up for the voters to decide, and no taxpayer money will be spent on this issue."
Sunday alcohol sales have been a topic of every Clarendon County Council meeting held since May after officials with the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce requested that the issue be placed on the ballot.
Chamber President Pro Prothro believes Sunday sales will be a boon to Clarendon's economy, particularly with neighboring counties already allowing the sale, at the very least at restaurants.
