Change sought on sale of wine

The Sioux Falls City Council will decide Monday whether to allow off-sale alcohol establishments to sell wine on Sundays.

The proposal would affect 64 package liquor operators that sell wine in Sioux Falls, said Lorie Hogstad, who oversees the alcohol beverage license program for the city. Currently, beer sales are allowed on Sundays while hard liquor and wine sales are prohibited.

Heather Boysen, owner/manager of Good Spirits Fine Wine and Liquor, suggested the change in late September. The council will hear its second reading at Monday's meeting. Off-sale liquor businesses could sell between 7 a.m. and midnight.

"There are a lot of people in Sioux Falls who come into the store on Sunday who don't realize you can't buy (wine) on Sunday," she said.

"They'll go to a restaurant where they can buy it. This is all about leveling the playing field."

The impetus for the change stems from the Legislature's passage this year of a law allowing restaurants with a beer and wine license to have the option to sell wine by the glass or wine to go, Hogstad said.

Boysen said that gives restaurants an advantage.

"If they are allowed to sell on Sunday, we should be allowed to sell," she said.

Some operators are discussing the possibility of ending all Sunday restrictions on beverage licenses, allowing retailers to sell hard liquor that day.

Boysen said Rapid City, Huron and Fort Pierre have had Sunday sales for years. She noted that removing restrictions on Sunday alcohol sales would create revenue for the city.

"Our tax dollars are being pulled and stretched," Boysen said. "It's a financial issue as well that needs to be looked at."

City Council Chairman Bob Litz said he advocates the change for wine but draws the line at hard liquor. He said he doesn't think it's necessary.

"Beer and wine is generally consumed with a meal," Litz said. "It seems to me one day a week to stay sober is not too much to ask for."

With the opening of pheasant season this weekend, Boysen anticipates losing Sunday business because of the current ordinance.

Last year, four large groups of hunters came to her store on a Sunday, planning to hunt for a week and wanting to buy wine when her store couldn't sell to them.

"They are going into small communities with a bar that has a small selection," she said. "That's thousands of dollars I lose in a given year during hunting season."