Hard drinks hard to buy on Sundays in Hillsdale

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Hard drinks hard to buy on Sundays in Hillsdale

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Hillsdale County has “blue laws,” which prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays.
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A decades-old law is keeping you from buying a margarita on a Sunday in Hillsdale.

Little-known Sunday sales laws, known as “blue laws,” prohibit bars and restaurants in Hillsdale County — such as El Cerrito, Here’s To You Pub & Grub, and Hunt Club — from serving liquor on Sundays.

Hillsdale County Prosecuting Attorney Neal Brady said the laws have religious origins.

“The Sunday prohibition was simply designed to control behavior in respect to the Sabbath,” Brady said. “It is a sign of the times. Today, Sundays and religious holidays have become just another day in the retail and service worlds.

But today, the laws frustrate local business owners.

“Every election year we try to get the issue on the ballot. Unfortunately, we have to get 1,400 signatures,” said Kevin Conant, co-owner of Here’s To You Pub & Grub, who estimated the restrictions decrease Pub & Grub’s sales by 10 to 15 percent every Sunday.

According to Michigan state law, businesses can sell liquor on Sundays as long as they purchase a “Sunday Sales” permit. The Michigan Liquor Control Commission distinguishes between two types of Sunday sales permits: the “A.M.” permit allows the sale of liquor, beer, and wine on Sunday mornings, while the “P.M.” permit allows liquor sales on Sunday afternoons. Permits are not needed to sell beer and wine on Sunday afternoons.

But the state law also allows local governments to override the Sunday Sales permit option by holding a vote to restrict liquor sales.

In the 1980 general presidential election, Hillsdale County voted to prohibit businesses from serving liquor on Sundays, according to a document provided by Hillsdale County Clerk Marney Kast.

The document states that Hillsdale County residents voted not to permit the sale of spirits for consumption at establishments “in which the gross receipts derived from the sale of food or other goods and services exceed 50 percent of the total gross receipts.”

Hillsdale County is included in a November 2015 list published by the MLCC of “Local Governing Units that have opted out of Sunday sales [of liquor].” It says that Hillsdale County prohibits businesses from serving alcohol on Sundays because of the vote on the 1980 general election ballot.

“We can’t sell liquor on Sundays in Hillsdale County. It’s just a local law. We have the Sunday sales license, but we can only sell beer and wine,” Conant said.

According to the MLCC list, Hillsdale is the only county to prohibit restaurants and bars from serving liquor all day on Sundays, although three villages in Michigan have the same restrictions, and 16 cities, townships, and villages prohibit sales of packaged liquor on Sundays. Other local governments prohibit liquor sales on Sunday mornings only.

Hunt Club bartender Liz Myers said patrons from outside of Hillsdale are surprised that they can’t buy liquor and that the liquor sales restrictions affect business for the Hunt Club.

“We do have a lot of people who ask for liquor. People who aren’t from this county will try to order a drink and they’ll think it’s bizarre that they can’t. We’d probably make a lot more money—a lot of people try to order Bloody Marys,” she said.

Dan Stevens, a manager at the Hunt Club, said he’d probably acquire the Sunday sales permit if it were allowed, but he said he was told the permit is only for retail stores.

In fact, retail businesses that sell packaged liquor—rather than serving it—do not face the same restrictions that apply to bars and restaurants.

Before deciding to stay closed on Sundays altogether, Broad Street Downtown Market could not serve liquor—but it did have a license to sell packaged liquor on Sundays, Broad Street manager Cindy McCoy said, until it sold the license in September 2015.

“You can sell packaged liquor on Sundays but not serve it,” McCoy said. She said the business had to obtain an extension on its liquor license in order to sell the packaged liquor on Sundays.

Hillsdale Market House also does not need a Sunday permit to sell packaged liquor on Sundays, said Kevin Abbott, a manager and the director of beer, wine, and spirits at the Market House.

Although retailers are not prohibited by the blue laws from selling packaged liquor, the Hillsdale Kroger—which sells only beer and wine—apparently faces liquor sales restrictions for other reasons.

Kroger Communications Manager Ken McClure said he could not obtain a liquor license for the Hillsdale Kroger, although he was not sure of the reason.

“There is not license available for that location. In addition to the limited number of licenses available in Hillsdale County, there are also proximity clauses regarding the distance to schools, places of worship, and other licensees,” said McClure.

Clauses and complex restrictions appear to characterize the alcohol sales laws in Hillsdale. The police department had to look up the Sunday sales laws, and other county officials were uncertain of the restrictions as well.

“It takes a legal mind to figure out what the law is actually saying,” said Hillsdale County Clerk Marney Kast.