Longer hours on alcohol sought

Equal time to area cities cited by Olive Branch

Olive Branch elected officials agreed Tuesday night to petition the state to extend hours in which alcohol may be sold at places like restaurants and bars.

A majority of the Board of Aldermen voted to make the hours of sales uniform, 7 a.m.-1 a.m. seven days a week, for places permitted to sell alcohol for on-premises consumption.

The petition will be sent to the Alcohol Beverage Control division of the Department of Revenue, which typically goes along with such requests, said Bryan Dye, Olive Branch city attorney. It may take a couple of months for the decision.

Should the longer hours be granted, the hours for sales of beer at grocery stores and convenience stories also would automatically be extended to those hours, Dye said.

The 5-2 vote for the petition was accomplished without discussion, a sharp contrast to four years ago. In 2009, opponents fought an extension, and although the Board of Aldermen voted to extend hours, then-Mayor Sam Rikard issued a veto.

Newly elected Mayor Scott Phillips said he does not plan a veto. Although he is not a drinker, he said he wanted to allow whatever decision aldermen made to stand.

The question of whether to lengthen hours this time came after members of the public approached one or more aldermen about it, Phillips said.

Alderman Dale Dickerson, who made the motion to extend the hours, said he approved of the longer hours because area cities like Southaven have them. He also wanted Olive

Branch golf courses to be able to sell alcohol at their events. As the law stands, Sunday sales don’t start until 1 p.m., after tournaments have started.

Alderman George Collins, who also voted for longer hours, said he wanted uniform hours to avoid confusion among sellers.

Pat Hamilton, the only board member who voted against longer hours in 2009 and remains on the board, voted no again. Gil Earhart, a new alderman, joined her against longer hours.

Until ABC agrees to the longer hours, Olive Branch will continue to only allow sales from 10 a.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m.-midnight Sundays.