Salisbury, MD – The future of liquor sales in Wicomico County was the topic of conversation at Tuesday's County Council meeting, following a recommendation by the County's Liquor Dispensary Task Force to provide more purchasing options for bars and restaurants.
Currently, all liquor sales in the county, including those by bars and restaurants, are through a county-run dispensary system. Wicomico County Liquor Dispensary Task Force co-chair and Greater Salisbury Committee President Mike Dunn calls that a monopoly.
"We're recommending that the monopoly be lessened," Dunn stated. He's in favor of giving local bars, restaurants, and social clubs like the VFW and Moose Lodge the option to buy their liquor from distributors.
Julie Giordano, the County Executive, supports this proposal.
"We have the Chamber of Commerce behind us, the Greater Salisbury Committee behind us as well, and so just having those you entities behind you it speaks volumes because they do have a community voice so we wanted to make sure that it wasn't just what I wanted to put forward it's what our community needs and wants," she said.
Michael Vizard, owner of "Cheers," said this is a step in the right direction, but ultimately he would like the dispensary system to go away, or at least give beer and wine stores like his the option to sell liquor as well.
"This is a hard subject for me, I've been fighting this battle for 35 years. And I just want the opportunity, I am a member of this community," he said.
Giordano said an expansion to allow wine and beer stores to sell liquor is ultimately where she'd like the County's liquor laws to go.
"I'd like to move in that direction," she said. Continuing "I'm just going to say that from the County Executive's standpoint. We will see if the community stands behind that."
Wicomico County, along with Montgomery County, are the only counties in Maryland remaining with a county-run dispensary system. Giordano says she expects the proposed change to go before state legislators for a hearing in February.
