St. Charles changes liquor sales hours, allows distilleries
A previous version was incorrect about Alderman Rita Payleitner's vote. She voted in favor of allowing brew pubs and distilleries. And Geneva allows some liquor licensees to serve starting at 6 a.m.
Brew pubs and breweries are now welcome in St. Charles. Gas station convenience stores can sell hooch. And you can buy liquor three hours earlier on Sunday, whether you want to drink it at home or at a restaurant.
The St. Charles city council approved these changes to the city's liquor laws Monday night.
Brew pubs and distilleries passed unanimously. Those places could sell beverages, made on the premises, for consumption there or off-site.
Gasoline stations that have convenience stores will be allowed to sell alcoholic beverages. At those stores, no more than 10 percent of the sales floor can be used for alcoholic beverages.
Permission was added for restaurants that have certain liquor licenses to package and sell their specialty drinks, for off-site consumption.
And the start time for buying liquor will be the same every day: 7 a.m. Before, it was prohibited before 10 a.m. on Sundays. The change was approved 9-0.
Police Chief James Keegan had said, at a June committee meeting, that business owners had requested the changes to more closely match what nearby towns have.
Geneva allows liquor sales to start at 10 a.m. on Sundays and 9 a.m. the rest of the week, for packaged goods. It allows some facilities that serve alcohol on-site to start at 6 a.m. daily.
Batavia allows sales to start at 9 a.m. every day.
Both towns allow liquor to be sold at gasoline stations.
Alderman Maureen Lewis was absent. She had voted against the change in hours, and the gas station license, at a June 20 council committee meeting.