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Editorials
Montgomery in tight spot on liquor hours : Editorials : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisMontgomery in tight spot on liquor hours
| 11/12/2009
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When it comes to limiting hours for the sale of packaged alcoholic beverages in Montgomery, the village is truly in a difficult spot.
A few weeks ago, Denny Lee, a village board member, proposed the village's licensed retailers halt their sale of packaged alcoholic beverages from the current 2 a.m. curfew on Fridays and Saturdays to 1 a.m.
In proposing the 1 a.m. curfew, Lee noted that packaged liquor sales in neighboring Aurora currently end at 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights and charged that some unsavory characters are now traveling from the city after 1 a.m. to purchase alcoholic beverages in the village. The end result, he said, is the increased potential for early morning fights or criminal activity in or near village retail stores.
But the majority of Lee's board colleague's rejected his proposal. Their concern is that if the village were to cut its liquor sales off at 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, it would cost the village sales tax revenues, but even more importantly, create the potential for increased drunk drivers traveling through the village. They cited a survey of other area communities compiled by Police Chief Dennis Schmidt that showed that while packaged alcohol sales ends at 1 a.m. in Aurora and in unincorporated Kendall County on Friday and Saturday nights, the sales continue until 2 a.m. in Oswego, Yorkville and Sugar Grove. Due to Montgomery's location between Aurora and Oswego, it's logical to conclude that some Aurora residents would drive through Montgomery to reach stores in Oswego or, perhaps, even Yorkville or Sugar Grove if alcohol sales were to end at 1 a.m. in Montgomery. We also believe it's not out of the realm of possibility that some of those seeking alcoholic beverages may already have been drinking when they set out to buy additional packaged liquor after 1 a.m.
While we support the intent of Lee's effort, we believe the board acted correctly in maintaining the current liquor sale hours. Unless the village can persuade neighboring towns to also restrict their alcohol sales to 1 a.m. or some other mutually agreed upon time, we believe limiting the sale hours would be counter-productive. At least under the current circumstances, the village nets a small amount of sales tax revenues and some motorists seeking alcoholic beverages aren't merely driving through the village to get their beverages someplace else.
We suggest village officials consider raising the issue of liquor sale hours to their colleagues in other area communities at an intergovernmental meeting or, possibly, at a gathering of the Metro West Council Government, an association of Kane and Kendall County government agencies that village officials played a leading role in establishing a few years ago.
Village officials might also want to check on when alcohol sales end in Batavia and Geneva, which were not included in Schmidt's survey. We raise this point because we note that Schmidt's survey showed North Aurora, which borders Aurora just like Montgomery, has the most restrictive hours for alcohol sales, according to the survey. North Aurora has a midnight curfew for alcohol sales on Friday and Saturday nights and an 11 a.m. curfew Sundays through Thursdays. Does that mean North Aurora is putting up with the pass through motorists from Aurora or do the municipalities north of North Aurora also have similar liquor sale hours?
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