Law's criteria will limit gas station sales of alcohol

The prospect of buying beer at local gas stations might excite some, but customers shouldn't get their hopes up.

Those expecting to stop at any service station and grab a six-pack will be sorely disappointed.

According to a state law that went into effect Monday, gas stations will be able to sell two six-packs of beer and up to four bottles of wine, but only if:

• they already have a liquor license for a prepared food business that's connected to the gas station;

• the area where the beer is sold isn't directly connected to the gas station.

Greg Nichols, a Greensburg attorney who is an expert on Pennsylvania liquor laws, said that stations that want to sell beer are operating on the same type of liquor license restaurants use.

“The regulations as to what's required for selling beer haven't changed,” he said. “You still need a health license and seating and food accommodations for 30 people.

“What has changed is that the state now allows beer to be sold on the same site as liquid fuels,” Nichols said. “It has to be in a defined area and from a different point of sale.

“You're not going to be able to buy beer and gas all at the same register.”

Many gas stations will not meet requirements

That disqualifies most of 350 private petroleum dealers that Don Bowers represents.

“The LCB (Liquor Control Board) requires having a separate facility to sell beer,” said Bowers, vice president of the Pennsylvania Petroleum Association. “It cannot be associated with gasoline. I can see that with the way Sheetz ... and GetGo are set up; they have a separate island altogether.

“For a mom-and-pop convenience store, there's almost no way they can set up the way the LCB wants. They would need a separate facility,” he said.

That doesn't mean smaller stations wouldn't love the opportunity to sell beer.

“You're almost forced into it to remain competitive,” said Cindy Hunt, co-owner of Hunt's Hilltop Service in Gilpin. “I think it's time Pennsylvania entered the 21st century. They're still going about things in a backward manner.”

Hunt said that the station would be open to selling beer if the laws made sense for them, but that her store can't make big changes the way that big chain stations can.

Glassmere Fuel Services, which owns eight stations, most of which are in the Alle-Kiski Valley, might make its ninth station LCB compliant.

According to owner Dell Cromie, the company's new station in Springdale will explore selling beer.

Cromie said he would love to sell beer in the new station, which will be at the site of the former Sheetz station on Pittsburgh Street, which closed in 2012.

There is no timetable set for the opening of the store.

Creating ‘haves and have-nots'?

Nancy Maricondi, the executive director for Petroleum Retailers and Auto Repair Association in Forest Hills, said she worries this might set up a system of haves and have-nots in Pennsylvania.

“It's going to be prohibitive, the way the law stands now, for the average convenience store to sell beer, which is really going to hurt them.

“The rules are archaic,” she said. “You can't fight the big lobbyists.”

Attorney Nichols said he foresees a time when smaller gas stations will be able to sell beer and wine.

“Five years ago, if you came to me and said you wanted to sell beer and wine in your grocery store, I would have told you to move to Ohio,” Nichols said. “Not one word of the statute has changed since then. But the state's policy (on enforcement) has changed, and you can now buy beer in most grocery stores.”

“That's how much things have changed,” he added. “There are a lot of vested interests in the way the current liquor laws are structured. But my opinion is, if we want to stay competitive with surrounding states, we have to make major changes.”

Nichols said the new law is a step in the right direction.

“This is the most major liquor law change in the state since 1987,” Nichols said, when the state transferred enforcement of liquor laws to the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement.

“They finally dragged the liquor laws, kicking screaming, into the 21st century.”

Brian Rittmeyer is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. Reach him at 724-226-4701 or brittmeyer@tribweb.com. R.A. Monti is a freelance writer.