beer

Beer sales at the new Sheetz in Shippensburg have been stopped after a community group filed an appeal.

(DAN GLEITER, THE PATRIOT-NEWS)

Beer sales at the Sheetz in Shippensburg came to a halt this morning after a community group filed an appeal against the convenience store.

The Altoona-based Sheetz said an appeal was filed Aug. 5 by the Civic Club of Shippensburg against the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's July 17 decision to allow beer sales in the store.

The Sheetz store had started selling beer July 25 after receiving approval earlier in the month from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, said Gary Zimmerman, assistant vice president and legal counsel for Sheetz.

It was the first convenience store in this area to sell beer. The Civic Club is located in the same block of East King Street as the newly constructed Sheetz store.

According to the appeal, the civic club says the Liquor Code does not provide "discretion on the part of the Board to allow transfers to places, properties or locations which sell gasoline ..."

Beer coolers inside the store have been locked, Zimmerman said. He added that depending how long the appeal process lasts, the beer may have to be replaced with soda.

He said the family-owned Sheetz company plans to fight back, and is expecting a second appeal from the Malt Beverage Distributors Association of Pennsylvania.

"Our goal is to get in front of a Cumberland County judge as soon as possible," Zimmerman said. "We are at the mercy of the system," he added.

The appeal will go to the Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas.

The chain, Zimmerman emphasized, has complied with all of the LCB regulations to sell beer.

Sheetz also sells beer at one of its stores in Altoona. The chain has invested more than two years in its fight to sell beer at the store and faced opposition from citizens, Shippensburg borough police chief and groups such as the MBDA.

This story has been updated to include the civic club's reason for its appeal.