What does limiting liquor stores accomplish?

Our Opinion

Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009

For the second year there's a proposal to place a limit on the number of liquor stores that would be permitted in St. Mary's County.

There are 42 liquor stores in St. Mary's now. The legislation proposed by the St. Mary's County Licensed Beverage Association would allow about 33 more; they would be parceled out based on the population and number of existing stores in each election district.

It's easy enough to see why this would appeal to existing liquor store owners.

It's not so easy to understand see what public safety problem or social issue it addresses.

The legislation would apply only to Class A liquor licenses. Those are the ones for liquor stores that allow off-sale stores only. There is no intention to limit the number of restaurants or bars that serve alcohol, or the bars that also sell beer, wine and liquor for people to carry home.

Liquor store customers are not consuming alcohol on the premises, so limiting their number does little or nothing to curb drunk driving. If that was the goal it would make more sense to limit number of bars and restaurants serving alcohol. Limiting liquor stores shouldn't have an impact on sales to minors. In order to keep their liquor license no liquor store, bar or restaurant is supposed to sell alcohol to underage customers anyway.

About the only consequence for society of limiting the number of stores is that it might slow the rise in the county government's escalating cost of enforcing laws regulating the sale of alcoholic beverages.

Mostly what this rationing of liquor store licenses would do is eliminate competition for liquor store owners in a given area. Is that really the role of government? Should the government say only a finite number of fast-food restaurants should be allowed in order to protect the ones already in business? How about limiting the number of auto repair shops?

The alcoholic beverage industry is already heavily regulated. That's appropriate. Because they sell a product that if consumed improperly can cause a great deal of damage the government regulates how and where it can be sold. In fact, the St. Mary's County Alcohol Beverage Board already has the power to reject an application for a new liquor store if they feel it doesn't belong where it is proposed. The county's zoning laws also dictate where liquor stores and other retail businesses can be located so they don't spring up next to a school or in the middle of a residential area.

So what is to be gained by arbitrarily limiting someone from starting a new business if they are willing to abide by all of the existing rules?

This is to not to advocate a liquor store on every corner in St. Mary's County. There seems to be no shortage of places to buy alcohol already, and certainly the market could become oversaturated.

But that's the way the free enterprise system works. Government, we've learned, does have a role in regulating how businesses operate. But that should not extend to protecting the owners of existing businesses from competition.