Welsh businesses will now be able to sell alcohol on Sundays after the Board of Aldermen voted 3 to 2 Tuesday to amend its ordinance to allow alcohol sales on Sunday.

Under the new ordinance, bars, lounges and package liquor stores will be able to sell alcohol beginning at noon on Sundays. However, no alcohol sales will be allowed at the establishments between 2 a.m. and noon Sunday.

The change will go into effect 10 days after legal publication in the Jennings Daily News, according to town clerk Eva Kibodeaux.

Aldermen Clint Hardy, Lawrence Mier and Andrea King voted for the measure. Aldermen Ronnie Hayes and Jackie Balmer cast the dissenting votes.

“I am not against free commerce and I love this town and I want to see it grow but understanding that restaurants who come in and still open on Sunday and if their beverage sales are a smaller percentage than their food sales they can sell alcohol on Sunday,” Balmer said. “My concern is if we open it up for bars to be open on Sunday where does that end?”

Balmer said the current ordinance is outdated and needs to be rewritten, but said more consideration is needed before making any changes.

Balmer said she had been approached by a lot of church people who expressed concerns for changing the ordinance, but no one spoke against the measure during the public hearing.

“in good conscience I just can’t,” she said. “There has to be a way that they can earn more money without those hours on Sunday.”

Hayes said he agreed with Balmer “100 percent” and was against lifting the restrictions out of respect for local churches.

Prior to the amendment, bars, lounges and package liquor stores were required to be closed between 2 a.m. Sunday and 12:01 a.m. Monday. Convenience stores, grocery stores and restaurants were allowed to sell beer, wine and liquor during those hours, according to town attorney Rick Areceneaux.

Hardy brought the matter before the council in December after a local resident asked him how he could go about changing the ordinance to allow bars to open on Sunday. Since then he said he has had “hundreds of conversations” on the subject with only two people saying it was better left alone.

“…There is the part of the (current) ordinance that will not allow one of our small businesses, the bar owners, that pay taxes in this town and employ people from this town, to be open on Sunday,” Hardy said. “This (Sunday) would be a very profitable day for them, because you know, it is part of the weekend and a lot of people are off work.”

Hardy contends that the current ordinance as written is outdated, makes no sense and is truly unfair.

By not allowing the Sunday sales, the town is hindering many businesses, giving away sales taxes to surrounding municipalities and forcing chain-type restaurants to locate elsewhere, he said.

“If we want Welsh to prosper we have to have growth,” Hardy said. “With growth comes new business and what’s everyone’s favorite thing to do, eat and sometimes drink.”

“…Times are changing and we have to learn to make changes for Welsh to keep up and this is one of the changes that has to happen,” he said. “Let’s not send our tax money down the road anymore if we can help it.”

Several people at the meeting also voiced concern for the town losing tax dollars to Jennings, Iowa and Lake Charles.

“Why is it fair for other businesses to sell alcohol in town,” resident Roger Mallett asked. “At the end of the day you have to be fair across the board to everyone. If we are not going to sell alcohol in town, then we don’t sell alcohol in town, but I don’t see the fairness of saying who can and who can’t.”

Robbie Vanicor, a food service contractor, said an extra day of business can make or break a business especially with the slowdowns caused by COVID-19 and increasing cost of products and labor.

Other residents said people will go to Jennings, Iowa or Lake Charles to spend their money.