Sunday service

A patron sits down at a restaurant, ready to indulge in the Sunday brunch essentials, washed down with a tangy bloody mary. But, because it’s before noon in Sarasota County, the customer must choose a non-alcoholic beverage to accompany his meal.

Alcohol consumption and sales begin at 7 a.m. every other day of the week in the county; the noon time on Sunday has been the only outlier in the county code since 1982. The code applies to purchasing alcohol in grocery stores, serving alcohol on charter boat trips and selling alcoholic breakfast beverages in restaurants.

The rule is leftover from ages past. Often known as “blue laws,” these codes reflected a desire, at one time, to uphold religious standards by banning the sale of items such as alcohol or cars on Sunday.
Collier, Lee, Manatee and Charlotte counties do not have later alcohol sales times on Sundays, which sends some people out of Sarasota for their drinks.

Devin Rutkowski, owner of the Blue Rooster restaurant in the Rosemary District, first brought what he calls a competitive disadvantage for Sarasota businesses to county commissioners’ attention through emails in June.

When he asked why the code had been unchanged since it was written, he couldn’t get an answer.

“It’s commonsense to be consistent with sister counties,” Rutkowski said. “Our major industry is hospitality and tourism.”

Visit Sarasota County also communicated with the county through emails in support of the code change.

“It’s not the biggest issue in the world, but it’s time to fix it,” Virginia Haley, president of Visit Sarasota County, told the Sarasota Observer. She said she’d gotten similar complaints from hotels and restaurants.

“You have to give the Blue Rooster credit for getting the ball rolling.”

The Siesta Key Oyster Bar has found a way around the law — by giving out complimentary breakfast beverages with a Sunday brunch purchase. SKOB’s brunch, served from 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., offers two free mimosas, bloody marys or screwdrivers with the purchase of a breakfast menu item.

“It’s an incentive,” said Ryan Schmidt, general manager. “A token of our appreciation to our customers.”

If the code changed to allow alcohol sales before noon, Schmidt said, the restaurant would still offer the free beverages but would possibly consider switching to selling beverages in the future.

It’s not just the business that merchants are losing — the county is losing sales tax revenue, too, Haley said. If people want to do their week’s grocery shopping on Sunday morning, they don’t want to make a second stop later in the day for alcohol. It’s more convenient for them to drive to Manatee County to make their entire grocery purchase, she said.

The law is especially confusing for visitors who want to purchase items before heading out on the water, Haley said.

“We’re supposedly a cosmopolitan destination and we still have an ordinance from the 19th century,” Haley said.

The Sarasota County Commission approved a public hearing Nov. 5 to consider changing the county code to allow alcohol sales at 7 a.m. on Sundays.

If the county chooses to change the ordinance, though, the update would only apply to businesses, restaurants and hotels on unincorporated county land. Municipalities would have to change their own codes before restaurants within city limits, such as the Blue Rooster, could partake.

“It would be great,” said Steve Seidensticker, owner of Libby’s Café + Bar in Southside Village. “We have a huge demand on Sundays.”

Tom Barwin, city manager, said the city has received occasional complaints about the code but said it will wait and see how the public responds to the county change before making any changes. The city’s code has reflected the countywide alcohol ban on Sundays for about 30 years.

The blue law gives the county a nostalgic feeling, Barwin said. These throwback laws remind him of when he was growing up and most stores were closed all day on Sundays.

“Times are changing,” he said.

What’s a blue law?
Also called Sunday Laws, these state or local laws ban or restrict some Sunday activities to match religious standards, such as the sale of alcohol or cars. These laws have been around since the Colonial period. Although some counties and states have gotten rid of these laws, others remain.

The Supreme Court ruled blue laws to be constitutional in 1961. The Supreme Court ruled that laws with religious origins are still constitutional if they can serve a secular purpose. The chief justice at the time, Earl Warren, reasoned that the Sunday blue laws could provide a uniform day of rest for everyone, which coincided with the fact that Sunday is the Christian Sabbath.

Sunday Sales
Here are the times surrounding counties can start selling alcohol on Sundays:

Charlotte County: 6 a.m.

Collier County: 7 a.m.

Lee County: 7 a.m.

Manatee County: 7 a.m.

Hillsborough County: 11 a.m.

Sarasota County: Noon