Let voters decide on Sunday alcohol sales
Residents of Chester County ought to have the chance to vote up or down on whether to join other cities and counties in the region in allowing alcohol sales on Sunday. With a 5-1 vote Monday by the county council to hold Nov. 2 referendum on the issue, voters now seem likely to get that opportunity.
As in other referendums in York and Lancaster counties, and in the cities of Rock Hill, Fort Mill and Chester, a contingent of voters will always oppose any Sunday alcohol sales on religious grounds. But in each of those referendums, voters approved the sales by overwhelming majorities.
The economic argument in favor of Sunday sales is persuasive. If customers can’t get alcohol in restaurants or stores in Chester County, they will drive to Chester or somewhere else to buy it.
And when customers bypass county retailers, that represents a significant loss in sales, not to mention lost sales tax revenue for the county. If voters give the go-ahead in November, restaurants and other businesses would be allowed to sell liquor by the drink for on-premise consumption on Sundays, and stores would be allowed to sell beer and wine for take out on Sundays.
The goal of restaurant and pub owners isn’t simply to increase the trade in alcohol, but rather to entice more customers. Alcohol sales generate food sales, which drive up overall profits.
Opponents of Sunday sales often cite the potential for an increase in DUIs and traffic accidents. But law enforcement agencies in York and Lancaster counties have not experienced any uptick in the number of accidents.
Ultimately, however, we think the best argument in favor of legalizing Sunday alcohol sales is that people should have a choice, the same choice they have the other six days of the week. If some people want to abstain from buying or drinking alcohol on Sundays, fine. No one can force them to do so.
But, by the same token, those who do want to buy alcohol on Sundays should not be prohibited from doing so. They will not be impinging on anyone else’s rights.
We applaud the county council for taking the first step in allowing the voters to decide whether to give residents the option of buying alcohol any day of the week they choose.
This story was originally published June 7, 2016 at 6:50 PM with the headline "Let voters decide on Sunday alcohol sales."