Some Folks Still Want us to NOT Allow Sunday Morning Alcohol Sales......At All......Anywhere

From a constituent:

"Respectfully request that this email will be considered when County Commissioners vote on subject ordinance.   Our two votes, as legal voters in Escambia County vote NO & are against the Escambia County Commission proposed ordinance. We both are unable to attend due health issues & planned physician appointment otherwise we would be sitting on the front row with our face masks. Thanking you in advance for your support and hopefully your No vote."

 My Response:

"I proposed the language change, as right now, as we speak, some stores can already legally sell alcohol on Sunday mornings but the same “type” of store, for no good reason, cannot sell on Sunday mornings.  This is currently based upon such store’s geographic location in the county.  Stores at the beaches can sell, but stores on the mainland cannot.  So right now citizens that want to do so are driving out of their neighborhoods, across the county line to buy alcohol on Sunday mornings (Santa Rosa permits Sunday morning sales beginning at 7:00AM) or all the way to Perdido Key or Pensacola Beach to legally purchase alcohol on Sunday mornings. This is backwards, discriminatory, and unfair;  my support for uniform language for ALL Licensed Escambia County retailers to sell on an equal footing and at uniform times will pass, more than likely with a rare 5-0 vote of the board.  This said—I am not advocating for folks to skip church on Sundays and go out and get drunk.  I am not making a value judgment here.  I cannot, nor can anyone, legislate morality.   But I can and I will fix language that puts some businesses on an unequal footing for reasons that are ridiculous, arcane, and obsolete—which the board’s approval of this ordinance Thursday morning will do."

Escambia's Alcohol Sales Ordinance to be Discussed Next Week

We will be discussing our alcohol sales ordinance next Thursday during our board meeting.  Our current ordinance treats businesses differently according to where these businesses are located in the county geographically.  Some believe this is an unfair double standard and I do not disagree with that assessment.....

Next week I will be bringing our Alcohol Sales ordinance to our regular meeting for discussion among my peers.

I have been asked by constituents why there are currently no sales of alcoholic beverages permitted on Sunday until 1:00 PM on the mainland in stores---but on our two barrier islands (Perdido Key and Pensacola Beach) ----Sunday sales can commence at 7:00AM as our policy is currently written?

Why the differing standards is a fair question?

Looking at the ordinances of our nearby neighbor counties (below)--I prefer and will bring a suggested replacement ordinance for Escambia County that is similar to what Santa Rosa has--that treats all areas the same in terms of the time/date when alcoholic beverages can be sold.

No store will be obligated to start selling early if they choose not to do so--but they will be allowed to do so if they so choose.  

And no--I'm not "advocating" for people to go out and get drunk on Sunday mornings---I'm simply making our ordinance fair for all businesses in the county; as it is currently written, there is a glaring double standard.  

When or whether or not someone chooses to consume alcoholic beverages is a personal choice/decision---and we do live in a free country after all....

So we will see if there is any appetite for changing this ordinance locally--I have no idea where my counterparts stand on this issue.  We will find out next week though.