Sunday alcohol sales approved

Beginning this Sunday, July 18, stores in the unincorporated areas of Escambia County (Ala.) can begin selling alcohol on Sundays following a unanimous vote by the county commission Monday morning.

Commissioner Scottie Stewart was absent, but when contacted later he said he supported the alcohol sales on Sunday.

Commissioners noted that the cities of Atmore, Brewton, East Brewton and Flomaton had all approved Sunday alcohol sales and felt it needed to be approved in the rural areas to “level the playing” field for stores in the unincorporated areas.

The motion approved by the commission was for off-premises sales only and sales can begin at 2 a.m. on Sundays and run to midnight.

In Atmore, Sunday alcohol sales begin at 10 a.m., Brewton sales begin at 12 noon, East Brewton begins at 1 p.m. and Flomaton is all day Sunday.

Tuesday night, the Riverview Town Council failed to approve Sunday alcohol sales. Riverview currently has the Brewton Food Mart and Murder Creek Distillery that sell alcohol.

Prior to discussing Sunday alcohol sales, Mayor Lisa McCall said the vote needed to be unanimous to approve the Sunday sales. She informed council members Judy Hudson, Sandy Townsend and Melissa Britton that the county commission had approved Sunday sales Monday and that Riverview was the only place in the county that did not allow Sunday alcohol sales.

Townsend made the motion to approve off-premises Sunday alcohol sales for the town of Riverview. Hudson issued the second.

Britton said she would really have to pray before she could vote yes and voted no.

“I have to vote my conscious,” Britton said. “I understand the way things are going. I don't know if I really need to be sitting here.”

Britton said she didn't want to hurt the town and said she would resign her seat if needed.

“I don't want to feel all the weight of this on my shoulders,” Britton said. “I've always tried to speak my feelings.”

Britton later said she would change her vote to yes to move forward but the other council members told her she needed to vote the way she felt. The measure passed on a 2-1 vote, but essentially failed since it wasn't unanimous.

County

Commissioner Brandon Smith said the Sunday sale of alcohol in the unincorporated areas has been a hot topic for years.

“It's in every town we have now,” Smith said. “A lot of the mom and pop operations in the county have been suffering. We need to make it a level playing field across the county.”