Longer liquor sales OK’d — again
Legislature overrides Molinaro’s veto of stores being able to operate later
The Dutchess County Legislature has overridden County Executive Marc Molinaro’s veto of expanded hours for wine and liquor sales in stores.
The vote on Monday was 19-5, surpassing the twothirds majority needed to enact the new hours. (The Legislature has 25 members, so 17 votes are needed to override a veto.)
The extended hours still must be approved by the state Liquor Authority, which will hold a public hearing before acting.
Currently, Dutchess County allows liquor and wine sales in stores from 9 a.m to 7 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays, and from noon to 9 p.m. Sundays. Sales on five major holidays — New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Thanksgiving — are allowed only from 9 to 10 a.m.
Under the new rules, weekday and Saturday sales are to be extended by two hours, until 9 p.m., and holiday sales also would be allowed from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The Republican-led county
Legislature approved the extended hours in a bipartisan 18-6 vote on April 8 after hearing from store owners and constituents on both sides of the issue. But Republican Molinaro vetoed the resolution, saying there had not been enough public input.
Legislator Frits Zernike, the author and primary sponsor of the resolution, said the new rules will allow shop owners “to tailor their hours to the buying habits of people in their localities, instead of the one-size-fits-some regulation we now have.”
“Because you can stay open ‘til 9 p.m. doesn’t mean you have to. But the 7 p.m. closing time means everybody has to stop doing business at the same time,” Zernike, a Democrat who represents Fishkill and Beacon, said in a written statement.
“Merchants in my district see this (the current law) ... as an unfair restriction
on their ability to best serve their clients, many of whom commute to jobs outside the county and don’t always make it home in time for what’s basically the curfew this imposes,” Zernike added.
“We also lose tourist dollars when visitors accustomed to less-restrictive closing times find themselves high and dry if they miss the witching hour of that 7 p.m. closing time,” Zernike said. “In both cases, that means tax revenue is leaving Dutchess County as those consumer dollars go to neighboring counties with more reasonable hours of operation.”
Liquor stores in Ulster and Orange counties are allowed to stay open until midnight on weeknights and Saturdays.
Molinaro, in his veto message last month, said he favors a more open marketplace but believes all liquor stores operating in Dutchess County should have been polled on the issue before the resolution was introduced.