Going back to the local electorate

Are Pittsylvania County’s voters ready to approve Sunday beer and wine sales? Until Tuesday, the conventional political wisdom was that question was a dead issue in the county.

The voters had already said no — twice. But now that voters in the Callands-Gretna magisterial district and the town of Gretna have approved Sunday sales, the issue is once again in play.

The margin of victory Tuesday wasn’t overwhelming, and the yes votes came during an election in which turnout hovered at about 40 percent.

But this issue was thought to be so dead last summer that Callands-Gretna Supervisor Fred Ingram had to fight to get the required four votes to put the question to his own constituents.

Now Ingram believes that the issue’s dynamic may have changed.

“I’m very glad to see it happen in Pittsylvania County in the Callands-Gretna district,” Ingram said.

“I have a feeling that next year you’ll see that on the ballot in other parts of the county.”

The rationale for Sunday beer and wine sales is that it gives county merchants and restaurants a tool to economically compete with communities that already allow Sunday sales.

Ingram, who owns a restaurant that doesn’t serve beer, believed that was the only good reason to vote yes.

That economic pressure — the loss of sales to one community — is the obvious political leverage that compels voters in another to finally vote yes.

The Board of Supervisors has the authority to approve Sunday beer and wine sales, but those two previous countywide no votes make it politically impossible for them to overturn the will of the voters.

But with Tuesday’s yes votes, it’s possible that more county residents — especially those who live in the magisterial districts that border Danville — will now see Sunday beer and wine sales for what they are, namely a chance for county stores and restaurants to economically compete for the same customers.

Opponents of Sunday sales make compelling, heartfelt arguments about the dangers of alcohol and the problems that are sometimes caused by its use and abuse.

But the bottom line is that the county’s ban on Sunday beer and wine sales does little, if anything, to keep county residents who want to buy this legal product from being able to so on Sunday.

The only question is who will be able to sell it, not if people will be able to buy it.