NC bill could allow restaurants to sell alcohol for takeout, delivery

RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) — As the North Carolina General Assembly reconvenes for their short session Monday, Senator Harper Peterson (D-New Hanover County) is co-sponsoring two bills aimed at helping the restaurant and hotel industry in our state.

Wilmington business owner Justin Smith is currently navigating uncharted waters.

“It feels like a hurricane with no end in sight,” Smith said.

Smith is the co-owner of Anne Bonny’s, The Husk, Yosake and Dram and Morsel. Like the rest of the state, he’s had to shift his business model to carryout and delivery only, and profits are way down.

“We all need help, and any percentage of folks that fall off destroy character, destroy the very fabric of the city that we’ve built for years and years and years,” he said.

That’s why Senator Harper Peterson is co-sponsoring two bills aimed at helping the struggling industry.

The first, Senate Bill 748, would allow restaurants to sell alcoholic drinks for takeout and delivery.

“You can sell beer and wine now to go in unopened containers, and the essence of this bill, it’s very simple, is that you can also serve mixed drinks in a container with a lid,” Peterson said.

Drinks would only be served with food, and limited to two servings per meal. Smith says he’s in favor of the idea.

“The to-go drinks just give another option for revenue stream, and that’s the simple and honest answer,” Smith said. “We need whatever revenue stream we can to make up for the lost business.”

The second bill (S.B. 788) sponsored by Peterson is known as the Save Our Restaurants Act.

It would create a $125 million fund for restaurant and hotel loans using federal funds from the CARES Act.

Peterson says the bill is aimed at small businesses, not chains.

“It’s a maximum $50,000 loan paid back over 10 years, 3.5% interest,” he said. “You can forgive your loan if you use part of the money to source from farms or fisheries.”

The bill would also refund ABC license costs to restaurants for the months they had to close.

Peterson says discussions are being held in the state senate and he hopes both bills will be passed as quickly as possible with much needed bipartisan support.