College Park Liquors is seen here. The store is now able to sell hard liquor on Sundays.
Two College Park liquor stores will now be able to sell liquor on Sundays, but they must also get makeovers.
The Prince George’s County Board of License Commissioners recently approved Sunday liquor sales at College Park Liquors and Town Hall Liquors, a decision that also mandates the businesses each invest at least $50,000 in
store improvements.
Before obtaining its permit, Town Hall Liquors could sell beer and wine Sundays in its store and its lounge. The lounge will still serve only beer and wine Sundays, as the license is for alcohol that is permitted off the property.
The two stores applied for the license this summer after Gov. Larry Hogan signed a bill in April allowing Prince George’s County to issue 100 licenses allowing liquor sales on Sundays from 8 a.m. to midnight.
Senior civil and environmental engineering major Ashraf Khan said he doesn’t see any issues with stores selling liquor on Sundays.
“I don’t think it is bad,” he said. “I don’t particularly drink on Sundays. I don’t go out, but it is a good thing, I guess. I don’t see a problem with it.”
The two stores must follow county and city guidelines put in place for licensed stores in order to quench the thirst of College Park residents on Sundays.
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The county requires the $50,000 reinvestment. Stores can opt for a waiver through the county, but Bob Ryan, the city’s public services director, said he suspects the county won’t be giving many out. Regardless, the College Park City Council and the city attorney determined that College Park Liquors and Town Hall Liquors will not apply for the waiver.
“They are looking for the liquor stores in the county to get a facelift, so to speak,” Ryan said.
District 2 Councilman Monroe Dennis added: “From the city’s perspective, it is an attempt on our behalf to try and make certain things about the appearance of some of these facilities more amenable.”
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College Park Liquors’ property-use agreement states it must remove
50 percent of the signage on its storefront windows, clear the aisle in front of the store and use ID scanners,
Ryan said.
The increased storefront window visibility is primarily so police officers who are driving by can look into the store and make sure there are no issues, Ryan said.
College Park Liquors, which opened in 1990, plans on renovating its cashier counter area, changing the shelving in the front and making the store easier to navigate, said Abigale Bruce-Watson, an attorney who represents the store.
College Park Liquors has a year to make the changes or its license will be revoked, Bruce-Watson said. The same applies for Town Hall.
The council suggested Town Hall change its exterior to make the bar and store more inviting. Multiple council members suggested adding windows.
James Higgins, Town Hall’s general manager, told the council in a special session last week that doing so would be challenging because the store hasn’t been renovated since 1981. Structural issues limit the changes it can make, he said.
The city requires Town Hall to make improvements to its facade and the front area of its business, stipulations that were written into the application that was presented to Board of License Commissioners on Tuesday, Dennis said.
“Generally, we are asking them to brighten up a little,” Dennis said. “Fifty thousand dollars sounds like a lot of money, and to some businesses it is, but it doesn’t really go a long way.”
Junior journalism major Mia Hassler echoed Dennis’ thoughts.
“It looks like an undercover, secret place,” she said of Town Hall. “They could make it a little more safer-looking and welcoming.”
With Town Hall, Ryan said, the city clearly prioritized improving the store’s exterior -— by painting it, for instance –— and repairing the fence in the back of the store and fixing the large mounted sign out front.
In the store’s July application to the Board of License Commissioners, Higgins said the business would redo the floors in the lounge and much of the ceiling, as well as update its beer boxes, which keep beer cold. Ryan said these are changes the store could make if it has money left over from renovating the facade.
Dennis said if the city did not have a stance on the licenses or opposed them, the license commissioners board could still grant the licenses to the liquor stores, making the decision an easy one.
“We found there was no reason to disapprove,” he said. “We thought that it was in our best interest to approve with some conditions that would hopefully indicate that the city is in favor of trying to help businesses but that there should be some conditions that should appeal to our city as a whole.
“We want to try and ensure that any business in the city survives.”
