Some city officials say they can live with the concept of the boozy breakfast in Naperville, given the right setting. Others, however, are leery of allowing people to imbibe freely as early on Sunday mornings as they can through the rest of the week, saying it’s important to protect the city’s established reputation as a family-friendly place.
Members of the City Council this week took a look at proposed changes in the liquor code that would allow bars and restaurants to begin serving cocktails at 7 a.m. on Sundays, rather than waiting until noon, as local law now dictates. Placed on the consent agenda but tabled temporarily, the ordinance also would do away with the current rule that says certain license holders can only serve drinks when a full menu of food is available, replacing it with an undefined availability of food service. Council members also sized up a separate plan to expand the range of retailers’ displays of wine, beer and spirits in stores that sell food and other items in addition to alcohol.
Lifting the Sunday-morning prohibition on pouring drinks for sale would bring the first round to the same time now permitted Monday through Saturday, but some decision makers say the ban serves a purpose and they’d like to keep it intact.
“It’s a big family value to me, and our brand in Naperville,” said Councilman Paul Hinterlong, who doesn’t see anything wrong with the current noon start for Sunday drinking in the city’s establishments.
Agencies that rate communities on desirability for families weigh in factors like local liquor laws, Hinterlong said. He was one of several council members to urge holding off on making the change until residents and community groups, especially those that focus on youth issues and substance abuse, have had a chance to offer their views about it.
“A lot of it, to me, is just isn’t anything sacred? Can’t we give something a break?” Hinterlong said. “I mean, if it’s about revenues and business, then why aren’t we competing with Cook County and trying to stay open until 4 a.m.?”
Councilwoman Rebecca Boyd-Obarski said she sees the proposals in two parts, and the lack of clarity about what defines food in a bar was troublesome for her.
“I’m not comfortable with the idea that we would have taverns serving alcohol without serving food that early in the day,” said Boyd-Obarski, wondering aloud if the phrase “food service available” could encompass salty snacks dispensed from vending machines.
A memo from Mayor and Liquor Commissioner Steve Chirico and commission attorney Kavita Athanikar provided background on the existing Sunday morning ban, which was enacted in the 1960s to keep the day distinct from the other six.
“The rationale for restricted Sunday liquor sales hours, also known as the blue laws, stemmed from a reverence for spiritual practices,” the memo reported. “The blue laws were meant to prevent individuals from participating in activities that interfered with spiritual life; additionally the laws stood to prevent those who did engage in such activities, like the consumption of liquor, from being exposed to it early on Sundays.”
The city loosened laws a bit in 2011, allowing Sunday package liquor sales as early as 8 a.m., at the request of several license holders. Chirico, who has proposed updating assorted aspects of local liquor law, thinks the time has come to take additional steps. He noted that the city’s full-service hotels aren’t able to serve mimosas at the increasingly common post-wedding brunches.
“We’re just not current and we need to modernize that, in my view,” he said. “I don’t think it says anything to our character that we as adults can have a celebration and drink in a responsible way.”
Councilman Kevin Gallaher, who said he and his 7-year-old son sometimes go to Quigley’s Irish Pub to watch soccer on Sundays, agreed that change is due.
“Sunday’s a different day, but it’s changed a lot certainly since I was a kid,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that people do on Sunday that they never would have done before, just because it’s not quite what it used to be.”
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One resident questioned the process at Tuesday’s meeting that proposed waiving the first reading of the ordinance and placed it on the council’s single-vote consent agenda.
“I can’t recall any time a liquor ordinance in this city has been handled this way,” Jim Haselhorst said. “It seems like it’s almost a rush to get this done, and I can’t see any reason why there’s a hurry.”
He also was critical of the plan to lift the rule about full meal availability, saying the advisory Liquor Commission hadn’t even addressed that aspect. Haselhorst, who was one of four candidates in April’s mayoral election, alluded to the recent passage of an unprecedented city sales tax and noted that many residents reported they had heard nothing about it before the measure came up for a council vote.
“I think this only further erodes that confidence by residents in the way the council is handling these issues, by bringing something this significant before council on the consent agenda,” Haselhorst said.
Chirico said he’d had similar reservations, and didn’t oppose putting off a vote on the matter or gathering more input and information, but said when there’s unanimous support for a change from the Liquor Commission, it’s “normally” done through the consent agenda. The ordinance now will be taken up at a future meeting, after residents and business owners have had more time to share their views on it.
The ordinance that would lift stores’ alcohol display restrictions also met mixed reviews from the dais on its first reading. Representatives from local stores pressed for the change, saying elimination of the existing limitations would allow them to cross-market the beverages and boost sales, which would mean more retail tax revenue for the city.
Current code requires retailers to define a liquor sales area and keep all alcohol-containing products there, with only four holiday periods each year when the restrictions are eased.
Standard Market store director Colin Dalough spoke in support of the change, saying current law is restrictive for the upscale food retailer. And Connie Zaio of Jewel-Osco said Naperville is one of only three Illinois municipalities that don’t let the chain cross-market liquor with other merchandise in the state’s 170 Jewel food stores.
“More and more people, when they entertain, especially on the wine side, want to pair certain foods items with a particular wine,” said Zaio.
The restrictions elimination, which had support from the Liquor Commission in a 6-1 vote in August, will come up for a vote at an upcoming council meeting.
Twitter @scarlman