District alcohol authorities today started taking applications from liquor retailers who want to sell their wares on Sundays for the first time.
Five businesses are eager enough to do so that they submitted applications on Day 1. Among them is the District’s newest mega-retailer, Costco, which sells a full selection of beer, wine and liquor at its Fort Lincoln big box.
Fred Moosally, director of the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, said it will take two to three weeks before the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board approves any requests.
Sunday liquor sales is but one feature of the liquor-law overhaul that went into effect Wednesday.
Among the new provisions: More ABRA-licensed locations will be free to sell 64-ounce beer growlers, which previously had been legal only at breweries. Agreements reached between license applicants and neighborhood groups will now be referred to as “settlement agreements” rather than “voluntary agreements” and will carry new restrictions — which is significant because many businesses saw the agreements as something other than voluntary. Permit classifications now allow for “wine pubs” where products can be made, tasted and sold on the same premises. And for fans of high-test wines, beer-and-wine-only retailers can now sell products with as much as 15 percent alcohol by volume, up from the previous 14 percent.