Earlier Sunday Alcohol Sales Approved By Pinellas Commission

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — Pinellas County residents and visitors won’t have to wait until 11 a.m. on Sundays to purchase alcohol for much longer. The county commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to let stores and restaurants begin selling at 8 a.m. on Sundays.

The new rules could take a week or so to go into effect since the county still has to file the local ordinance with the state. Once that takes place, the 11 a.m. restriction will be lifted. The change means that alcohol will now be available for purchase seven days a week between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 a.m.

Cities within Pinellas County may still choose to pass their own local ordinances, the Tampa Bay Times pointed out.

Whether that might occur remains to be seen.

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman advocated for the time change.

“Let’s be honest, this isn’t 1817, this is 2017,” Kriseman was quoted by WTSP as saying. “The time for blue laws is long passed.”

Blue laws that restrict alcohol sales on Sundays still exist in other parts of the Tampa Bay area. Alcohol cannot be bought or served before 11 a.m. in Hillsborough County, for example.

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