By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

Local restaurants and retailers will now be able to sell alcoholic beverages on Sunday afternoons after Shelby County voters approved the matter during the March 1 primary election.

With all but the provisional ballots tallied, about 70 percent of the county’s citizens had voted in favor of passing a local amendment to the state’s Constitution to allow all county retailers and restaurants holding an Alcoholic Beverage Control license to sell alcoholic beverages after noon on Sundays.

The amendment will end the county’s previous private club license system dealing with Sunday alcohol sales. Under the private license system, Sunday alcohol sales were outlawed in Shelby County for businesses not holding a private club license.

The state Alcoholic Beverage Control board did away with private club licenses several years ago, but grandfathered in businesses already holding the licenses at the request of state legislators.

While about 20 Shelby County businesses held private club licenses through the grandfather clause, new businesses were not able to obtain the licenses.

Sunday afternoon alcohol sales after noon will go into effect on Sunday, March 13, after the votes were certified on March 11.

The move is expected to cause increases in local, county and state sales tax revenue while leading to greater sales among the county’s businesses, according to a recent study commissioned by the Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce.

The study, which was released a little more than a week before the election, predicted Sunday sales could result in about $11 million in additional consumer spending each year in the county, and could lead to the creation of 171 new jobs.

It also could generate $436,775 more in tax revenue for Alabama, $109,194 more in tax revenue for Shelby County and about $436,775 more for most Shelby County municipalities each year

Many of the county’s government officials have lobbied in favor of repealing the county’s blue laws over the past several months, claiming the lack of Sunday sales was hampering economic development efforts.

“Yes, the legal authorization for business applicants to secure a state permit for alcohol sales on Sunday’s after 12 p.m. has impacted commercial development projects in the past,” Shelby County Manager Alex Dudchock wrote in an email. “An example of this was when a commercial property owner on the Highway 280 corridor had interest from a hotel and conference center developer, but the hotel business plan and feasibility study included the requirement for sales associated with the targeted group and event weekend business. The project was built across the county line on Highway 280.”

The decision to allow Sunday alcohol sales has also drawn some criticism.

Dr. Joe Godfrey, the executive director of the Shelby County-based Alabama Citizens Action Program, previously said allowing Sunday sales will increase the availability of “a mind-altering and addictive drug,” and said it is exacerbated by the rise in higher-quantity, higher-alcohol beverages in Alabama over the past several years.