Click on the ABC 4 video below of click here.Two weeks ago, commissioner Gordon Strachan commented: "I [image-nocss] think we should eliminate the sale of beer at gas stations."
At that March 24 DABC meeting, Strachan made very clear how he feels about beer being sold at gas stations and c-stores. According to the report, he told an overflow crowd, "Arriving here today, everyone of us came right by the gas station that advertises the lowest price of beer in the state. There's just something wrong to have beer sold at gas stations."
Since then, ABC 4 is being told that Strachan has quietly and actively been working on a beer ban at c-stores, it said.
Because he may only have a few months left as a DABC commissioner, sources told the news outlet that Strachan could bring up this ban at the DABC's April 28 hearing.
Judging by his comments at that March DABC meeting, Strachan believes that it is simply too easy to buy a big, cold beer and then simply drive away, said the report.
"I have long been an advocate of the fact that beer should not be sold at gas stations," he said.
Commissioner Strachan faces some obstacles, however. Not only is there opposition to his ban, said the report, but there are also questions about how much authority DABC has in this matter.
Kate Bradshaw, vice president of the Utah Food Industry Association, told ABC 4 that the group worries that a beer ban will cost c-stores 20% of their business. It also is concerned that cities and the state will lose badly needed sales tax revenue.
Finally, she said that a ban will not help Utah's image: "Utah is already known for some of our quirky liquor laws, and this would just be yet another quirky Utah liquor law."
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