HOULTON, Maine — One year ago, many shoppers were startled to discover they could no longer purchase beer or wine in Houlton on Sundays.
Houlton voters will have an opportunity to change that on June 14, 2016 during a special primary election that also coincides with the RSU 29 budget vote.
Town Clerk Cathy O’Leary said Thursday that a group of local residents was finally successful in obtaining enough signatures to put the question on the June primary. A minimum of 315 signatures from registered voters was required to put the question on the ballot. O’Leary said 341 valid signatures were recorded on the petition.
The question reads “Shall the Town of Houlton authorize the state to issue licenses for the sale of malt liquor and wine to be consumed off the premises of licensed establishments on Sundays?”
The petitioning group has tried for a year to gather enough signature, but was unsuccessful until now.
Stores were selling beer and wine up until April 2015 when change came about after an investigation by the state’s Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages agency, which directed the Houlton establishments, including the town’s three grocery stores, to cease Sunday sales of beer and wine. Spirits, however, were still allowed.
Liquor by the state’s definition means wine, malt liquor (beer) or hard cider or any substance containing liquor intended for human consumption that contains more than half of 1 percent of alcohol by volume.
Spirits by the state’s definition is only for hard liquors, such as vodka, rum, whiskey, bourbon, scotch and tequila.
The action involved the interpretation of old local regulations and newer state laws governing the sale of alcohol and occurred after a local convenience store owner filed a complaint over the Sunday sales of beer and wine with the state’s Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages. The bureau investigated and ordered Houlton’s three larger grocery stores, which also are agency liquor stores, to cease Sunday sales of beer and wine.
For decades, Houlton was known as a “dry town” meaning there were no Sunday alcohol sales of any kind. In 1993, a town referendum was held to see if voters wished to allow Sunday sales of beer and wine. That vote failed 699 in favor, 874 opposed.
There is no town ordinance banning the sale of alcohol, but there was an existing “local option” that prevents the sale of beer and wine on Sunday. Houlton is one of a handful of communities in Aroostook County that does not allow Sunday sales.
According to the Department of Administration and Financial Services/Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations, confusion on the interpretation of the law stems from a change made by the Maine Legislature in 2013, which amended Title 28-A, Section 353 of Maine’s liquor law. That amendment removed the word “liquor” and replaced it with “spirits.”
The law now reads: “Agency liquor stores may be open for the sale and delivery of spirits and fortified wine between the hours of 6 a.m. and 1 a.m. (the following day) in municipalities and unincorporated places that have voted in favor of the operation of agency liquor stores under local option provisions. Notwithstanding, any local option decisions to the contrary, agency liquor stores may be open from 9 a.m. Sunday to 1 a.m. the next day.”
That ruling also affected restaurants, until a 2004 referendum that allowed beer and wine to be consumed in those establishments on Sunday. That vote passed 1,552 in favor, 1,220 opposed, according to O’Leary.
