I think this is a decent compromise. Many of these restaurants they're trying to target don't open until 11:00 or 12:00 on Sundays anyhow.
NORTON - Restaurants that want to sell alcohol on Sunday soon will be able to, but only after church lets out.
Norton City Council Tuesday modified a proposed ordinance that would have permitted on-premise Sunday alcohol sales, simply making the city's rules mirror state law.
Instead, Mayor Robert Raines suggested council rescind the current ban on Sunday alcohol sales but continue to make Norton's ordinance more restrictive than state law. The ordinance ultimately adopted forbids on-premise alcohol sales between 2 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Sunday.
City attorney Bill Bradshaw noted that the ordinance applied only to on-premise licenses, like those of restaurants. The prohibition against Sunday alcohol sales remains in effect for businesses like grocery and convenience stores that sell alcohol for off-premise consumption.
Although the new ordinance places limits on Sunday sales, Raines said after the meeting, the new ordinance appears to satisfy the needs of restaurants that have indicated to the new shopping center developer that not being able to serve alcohol on Sunday was an obstacle to deciding whether to locate in Norton.
The modification adopted Tuesday was a gesture to the church-going community that circulated petitions against Sunday alcohol sales.
aines leafed through petitions that had arrived from several churches. He counted one with about 50 signatures, one with 35, another with 33, then 10 and 7. Raines said the city would make the petitions part of the public record.
About a half dozen citizens opposed to Sunday sales attended Tuesday's council meeting but were mostly quiet. Without speaking, one man had placed another petition in front of Raines.
The mayor asked if he had anything he wanted to say. "The petition speaks for itself as far as opposing it," said the man, who represented the congregation of Davis Chapel Church.
"I don't think any of us want to do anything that reflects negatively on anyone and their beliefs," Raines said. "It comes down to a choice. We make choices every day."
The mayor repeated the city's dilemma: People want nice places to sit down and eat, like those they drive more than an hour to patronize in the Tri-Cities.
There are trade-offs, Raines said, and one is providing those restaurants that do sell alcohol the opportunity to sell it on Sunday.
Confining sales to Sunday afternoon, he said, "might make it more palatable."
The change preserves the early Sunday morning accommodation council made several years ago at the request of restaurants wanting to enhance Saturday night business lost to the Tri-Cities.
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