Seneca nearing Sunday Alcohol Sales

On November 6 residents in the City of Seneca voted 60% to 40% in favor on Sunday Alcohol Sales inside the city limits.  That measure has now passed second reading by the Seneca City Council.  Seneca Mayor Dan Alexander gives the background on Sunday Alcohol Sales in the city. “Several restaurants in the Seneca area had asked about the possibility of having Sunday Alcohol Sales.  There is a legal way that we had to go through.  A petition was submitted to the City Council to have it put on the ballot.  Therefore, the Council did that and it was on the ballot for registered voters inside the city limits to decide.  It passed and that took care of the legal part of it and then we had to send it to the Department of Revenue.  That is where it is now and that will take a couple of weeks.” Mayor Alexander tells what is next for businesses that chose to sell alcohol on Sundays. “Once everything is passed and I figure that will be done over the next three or four weeks, each business that chooses to do that has to get a permit from the state that allows them to sell on Sunday.  There is a fee for that for both restaurants and convenience stores and grocery stores.  They will be able to do that now if they choose.” Sunday Alcohol Sales could mean more restaurants and businesses will locate in the city limits, concludes Mayor Alexander. “We have had several restaurants that have looked at this area and special some of the ones that went to Greenville and Anderson that is one thing they asked if they could sell alcohol on Sundays.  Now we have that and we feel like that might actually draw some people inside the city limits.”  The Mayor and City Council anticipate future restaurants will also be enticed to locate inside the city limits to be near the new hotel currently under construction.