COLOMBIA – South Carolina’s constitution prohibits bars, and state senator Dick Harpootlian said he believes it is time to set these rules and demand that companies comply with them.
Columbia Democrat is the author of a bill that sets the standards for a restaurant to have a license for alcoholic beverages.
Harpootlian and some of his neighbors who live near Five Points, in Columbia, have argued that neighborhood bars do not meet the requirement to serve mainly food. Now, this debate may bring about a change in state law.
The South Carolina constitution, written in the mid-19th century, defines a restaurant eligible for a liquor license as one that is “primarily and substantially” in the business of serving meals. But there is no specific limit and, according to state law, bars are mixed with restaurants.
According to the Harpootlian project, this would represent 51% of a company’s gross revenue from sales of food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Arguing that many companies in the state are actually operating illegally as bars, Harpootlian cited bars that attract large crowds of students at Five Points on weekends as an example to be examined.
“You will see what it looks like and it is not good,” he said during a Senate subcommittee hearing on March 2 for his proposal.
Based on his work in a lawsuit involving a Five Points bar, Harpootlian said he learned that the company obtained 75% of its revenue or more from sales of alcohol. This is very different from a traditional restaurant, he said.
“This is not going to take any restaurant out of the market.”
Some in the Charleston restaurant business are concerned about the 51 percent requirement of the bill, Senator Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, told Harpootlian during the hearing.
Referring to Harpootlian’s remains on Columbia’s bars, Senn jokingly offered an amendment that the project only applies to Five Points.
“Charleston has always taken a different approach to serving alcoholic beverages,” said Harpootlian.
The SC Revenue Department refused to renew licenses for 11 of the 15 bars in the Five Points district, known as University of South Carolina student hangouts. Bars with existing licenses can remain open as long as resources continue. At least five bars at Five Points have been closed as a result of pressure from neighbors and the college since 2019.
Harpootlian said he would request answers from the hospitality industry about the required percentage of sales of non-alcoholic products before the next bill hearing, and that the percentage of gross revenue is a negotiable issue.
The bill was not voted on by the subcommittee. Probably another hearing in the next few weeks.