![WANT TO GO? The Milton City Council will meet 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 6738 Dixon St. City leaders are expected to approve Sunday alcohol sales during the meeting. [Pixabay.com]](http://127.0.0.1/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ghows-DA-47fa28fa-8cc1-5642-e053-0100007f2101-990939d9.jpeg)
MILTON — The City Council on Tuesday will cast its second and final vote on an ordinance that allows the sale of alcohol on Sundays.
The council is expected to approve the measure, which voters overwhelmingly approved in a non-binding referendum in November 2016. Under the new ordinance, package and on-premise sales of alcohol would be allowed from 7 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. within city limits. Currently no alcohol sales are legal on Sundays.
The council voted 6-1 in support of the proposed ordinance at its first reading on Jan. 10. Councilwoman Pat Lunsford was the sole dissenter. Lunsford, who said she has no plans to change her stance on Sunday alcohol sales, cites personal and religious convictions as the reason for her opposition.
“I’ve had family and friends who have lost so many loved ones because of alcohol,” she said. “It causes so much suffering … Sunday is the Lord’s day, and we should honor him enough to keep it holy. There is no way I can vote for it.”
Lunsford said she was “surprised and disappointed” in the November referendum’s results.
“Maybe (supporters) think it will bring a lot of money to us, but it’s also going to cost us some money,” she said, adding the city could need more law enforcement on the street. “… They’ll never make Milton like New Orleans, but it seems like they’re really trying to.”
Other council members view the measure as a progressive step.
“I think it’s 30 years past due,” Councilwoman Peggi Smith said. “I’m a restaurateur and a caterer, and it can’t happen soon enough for me.”
Smith said Milton’s ban on Sunday sales hasn’t stopped people from drinking alcohol but it has sent money to nearby counties.
“For me, it’s economics,” she said. “We want the hotels. We want things to come downtown.”
In recent weeks, restaurant owners in support of the measure have told the council Sunday sales would make them more competitive with eateries on the county’s south end and allow them to serve brunch.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: City poised to OK Sunday alcohol sales