Half a dozen cities in West Virginia are on their way to allowing Sunday morning alcohol sales.
The state Municipal Home Rule Board met in Morgantown on Monday to vote on amendments to six municipalities' home rule plans, all of which propose permitting restaurants to sell alcohol beginning at 10 a.m. on Sundays.
Those cities are Charleston, South Charleston, Lewisburg, Clarksburg, Bluefield and Martinsburg. The board approved all six cities' amendments.
Charleston City Attorney Paul Ellis said the capital city can introduce an ordinance at the City Council's next meeting, on Monday.
If the ordinance passes the City Council's Home Rule Committee, it would go to council members for a final vote at their Aug. 1 meeting and go into effect immediately.
While the city of Nitro also had planned to seek permission from the state Home Rule Board, it missed the deadline to submit necessary paperwork, Mayor Dave Casebolt said.
"We had to postpone it because we were too late getting our stuff in," Casebolt said. "We're gonna revisit it later in the year."
Ellis said he expects other West Virginia cities with home rule to propose similar amendments.
"The window to get the plan amendment in by this meeting was really tight. There were maybe five or six business days to get everything in place and get the required advertisement to the paper so we could run it," Ellis said. "I believe there are other cities that intend on doing the same thing."
The Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau has strongly advocated for the amendment to the city's home rule plan. Executive Director Alisa Bailey said the impact of Sunday morning alcohol sales will drive tourism revenue, noting that, between 2008 and 2013, Charleston will have made $200 million worth of tourism improvements, including the ongoing Civic Center project.
Also on Monday, the West Virginia Municipal Home Rule Board accepted the cities of Follansbee and Weston into the Home Rule Pilot Program.
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.