Des Plaines OKs liquor sales at gas stations

The Des Plaines city council is moving ahead with plans to allow packaged beer and wine sales at gas stations, as long as the stations have convenience stores that already sell packaged food.

Des Plaines Mayor Marty Moylan cast the tiebreaking vote Monday night to move the ordinance forward to a second reading at the April 5 council meeting.

Aldermen John Robinson (2nd Ward), Jean Higgason (4th), Mark Walsten (6th) and Dan Wilson (7th) voted in favor of the measure, while aldermen Patricia Haugeberg (1st), Matt Bogusz (3rd), James Brookman (5th) and Rosemary Argus (8th) voted against it.

"There was a lively debate on that because some people didn't want the proliferation of liquor licenses," Moylan said.

Moylan said he supports the ordinance because it will allow gas stations to recapture revenue lost when the city enacted a 2-cent-a-gallon gas tax increase Jan. 1.

The city also recently authorized bulk packaged liquor sales at four Walgreens stores in town.

"I think that those types of businesses (gas station convenience stores) should be able to compete and sell that type of beer and wine in six-packs only," Moylan said. "A lot of people use the (convenience store) as their source of getting food and other items."

A few suburban towns, including Carpentersville, Deerfield, Grayslake, Rolling Meadows, and Vernon Hills allow packaged liquor sales at gas stations/convenience stores selling gasoline.

Des Plaines' city code has prohibited the sale of liquor at gas stations for about 18 years.

Bogusz said expanding access to liquor increases "the potential for abuse." He added he voted against granting Walgreens liquor licenses for the same reason.

"Along with the beer and the cooler comes the neon sign in the window, and the council should be concerned with the image of our city," he said.

About seven of the city's 25 licensed gas stations could qualify for the new liquor licenses based on the ordinance's requirement that the business has an indoor area of 1,300 square feet - with no more than a third of the space used for the sale of alcoholic beverages.

The alcohol cannot be consumed on-site and the license would limit the hours of sale. The initial fee for the license would be $3,630 with an annual fee of $1,815.

Eligible gas stations must have employees at least 21 years old selling beer or wine who are under the supervision of a manager trained on alcohol awareness by a state certified group. Gas stations won't be allowed to sell single cans of beer or bottles of wine less than 750 milliliters.