AIKEN --- If you have an opinion on the so-called "Blue Law" forbidding certain Sunday morning sales in Aiken County, Tuesday night will be your chance to give it.
The county council will hold its first public hearing on the matter during its meeting in the council chambers on Richland Avenue at 7 p.m.
The council has voted on first reading to suspend the state law that forbids some commercial purchases before 1:30 p.m. on Sundays.
If the ban's repeal is approved on second reading, the council will have a third and final vote Aug. 18.
Officials say the council has the authority to repeal the state law locally.
Many business managers and owners and the Aiken County Chamber of Commerce have supported repealing the restriction.
They've argued that it hurts sales, and county sales tax collections, when shoppers go across the river to Georgia, where there is no similar Sunday morning restriction.
So far, county officials say they haven't heard much opinion against repealing the ban.
Reach Preston Sparks at (803) 648-1395, ext. 110, or preston.sparks@augustachronicle.com.
BLUE LAWS
Items that can't be purchased before 1:30 p.m. on Sundays:
- Clothing and clothing accessories (except those that qualify as swimwear, novelties, souvenirs, hosiery, or undergarments)
- Housewares, china, glassware and kitchenware
- Home, business and office furnishings and appliances
- Tools, paints, hardware, building supplies and lumber
- Jewelry, silverware, watches, clocks, luggage, musical instruments, recorders, recordings, radios, televisions, phonographs, record players or hi-fi or stereo sets, or equipment
- Sporting goods (except when sold on premises where sporting events and recreational facilities are permitted)
- Yard or piece goods; automobiles, trucks and trailers.
THE PENALTY: a fine of not less than $50 and no more than $250 for a first offense. A fine of no less than $100 and no more than $500 for each subsequent offense.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws
icon.
