By Betsy Finklea
Dillon County voters will have an important decision to make as they cast their ballots for the upcoming general election on whether to allow Sunday Alcohol Sales in the unincorporated areas of the county.
The Dillon County Council held three readings of an ordinance to allow the public to vote on whether or not they wanted Sunday Alcohol Sales. At the final reading in August, a majority of the council voted to allow the measure on the ballot. No one appeared for the public hearing to voice support for or against allowing the measure on the ballot.
The question will appear on the ballot as follows:
Alcohol Sales
Shall the South Carolina Department of Revenue be authorized to issue temporary permits in the County of Dillon, South Carolina, for a period not to exceed twenty-four hours to allow the possession, sale and consumption of alcoholic liquors by the drink to bona fide nonprofit organizations and business establishments authorized to be licensed for consumption-on-premises sales and to allow the sale of beer and wine at permitted off-premises locations without regard to the days of hours of sales?
-Yes, ln Favor of the Question
-No, Opposed to the Question
A vote in favor of the question is a vote to allow Sunday Alcohol Sales. A vote of no, opposed to the question, is a vote to allow things to remain the same with no Sunday Alcohol Sales.
This will only affect the UNINCORPORATED areas of the county.
Even if the measure passes, there will be no Sunday alcohol sales allowed within the town limits of Latta or Lake View. Their councils would have to pass an ordinance allowing Sunday Alcohol Sales to appear on the ballot for their individual towns, and the voters in these individual towns would have to pass the ordinance for Sunday Alcohol Sales to be allowed. The City of Dillon voters passed Sunday Alcohol Sales in 2020, and the City of Dillon is currently the only area in the county that allows Sunday Alcohol Sales.
Proponents of the measure say that Sunday Alcohol Sales will help attract sit-down restaurants to the area as well as give another revenue stream to existing businesses. Those who are against the measure say that it is a moral and Biblical issue.
