USA Today article: Drive through alcohol sales

[JNA]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...uor/56119194/1

Is this a zoning or liquor license issue ?

Does your fair community allow or prohibit it ?

[DetroitPlanner]

Most of the ones I am aware of were grandfathered in. Nearly all have closed.

It used to be rare to see gas stations with liquor liscences in the non-rural area. Now I am seeing a few of them. I find these to be just as odd.

[Hink]

In Ohio we are a hotbed for these. I would say that there is one in every community... if not two.

We don't regulate them differently, but I don't know how they are regulated by the State Liquor control board. They are great for picking up beverages, but generally seem to be a pretty bad idea...

[hilldweller]

^Probably only 3.2% beer in Ohio, or no?

[Hink]

^Probably only 3.2% beer in Ohio, or no?

Nope. We got the good stuff. I think 3.2% went away in the early 90's?

[wahday]

We used to have drive-up alcohol dispensers here but they outlawed them about 15 years ago. They still sell plenty of alcohol at gas station convenience stores, though (including liquor). Which is funny to me because, really, not that many people are at a GAS STATION without their vehicle. So, the risk of drinking and driving seems similar. But I would agree that a drive-up/drive-through alcohol sale is just asking for trouble…

[mendelman]

Yep, as Hink said - here in SW OH, they are very common. I was actually suprised by the use when I moved here from Chicagoland.

I don't see how such a use is or could be a high causal link to drinking and driving. I would think there is a much higher incidence of drunk driving originating at "dine-in" bars than an establishment selling packaged alcohol.

[Richmond Jake]

Nearly every package store in my neck of the woods has a drive-thru window. They're as thick as the mosquitoes.

I was told recently that a gas station/convenience store in the town next door sells draft beer!! A person only has to bring their own containers. Most tote away their beer in gallon milk jugs. I've gotten gas there a few times but never gone inside. I'm going to have to conduct a deeper investigation.

[otterpop]

When I was in college at the U of Southern Mississippi, they opened a drive-through convenience store (converted from a quicky lube) and you could buy a beer on tap. Of course there was also an open container law. The police parked out front, on the street and pulled people over if they saw them being given a cup. So they stopped doing that pretty quick.

We had this really cool philosophy professor who gave a couple of us a make-up test. He handed us the tests and told us to turn them in at the office before 5 o'clock. We stopped at the drive-thru, got beer and went to someone's apartment. We discussed the questions while imbibing in drafts, then wrote our answers. Can you believe we all got the same grade? A's.

[short timer]

first one I saw was in Kentucky almost 40 years ago. The only other place I've seen them since is in Ohio. Then again, my exposure to extreme rural life has been limited.

My take on the non-drive thru establishments - e.g. gas station convenience store - is that if you can walk to the cooler and then the register - you're probably not falling down blind drunk.

[Dan]

Never saw a drive-through liquor store until I moved to New Mexico after college. The entire concept seemed alien to me. Then I found out that the Welcome Inn, the most disreputable bar in town, had a functioning drive-through window. Technically it was supposed to be used only for package liquors, but they supposedly sold draft beers and mixed drinks through it.

[hilldweller]

MA doesn't allow these. Shocking, right?

FWIW we also don't allow "Happy Hour" promotions

[developmentguru]

The ones popular in my area don't sell just prepackaged liquor and beer, they also sell custom drinks in styrofoam cups - daiquiris, margaritas, etc. Clearly, I am well-acquainted with these, being a municipal planner in a stressful environment

The state regulations require that the drinks be "sealed" on-site, and so long as they remain sealed, you are not in violation of the law if you are pulled over on your way home. Once that seal is broken, however, it is considered an open container.

However, despite this additional way of selling liquor does not change the fact that it is considered, under our zoning, a retail sale allowed in many of the commercial zoning designations, because the sale of these beverages is intended for off-site consumption.