Sari Lesk

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

STEVENS POINT – Shoppers will now have two additional hours to buy beer in the city, with sales starting as early as 6 a.m.

The Stevens Point City Council voted 6-2 this week to align the city's ordinance with state law, allowing for the sale of fermented malt beverages from 6 a.m. to midnight. The city previously limited the sale from 8 a.m. to midnight.

The issue came to City Council through the Public Protection Committee, which did not provide a recommendation on the request. Roundy's Supermarkets Inc. sent a letter to City Hall in August requesting that Stevens Point consider extending its hours to adopt the state's larger time window for sales.

City Attorney Andrew Beveridge said communities can adopt ordinances that set hours for the sale of alcoholic beverages that are more restrictive than that state's regulation, but not more extensive.

The request from Roundy's states that shelves of beer are adjacent to the designated liquor department, allowing customers to buy beer until the store closes at 10 p.m., two hours earlier than the state statute requires sales to end.

"The additional selling hours for fermented malt beverages between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. would not interfere with the store's ability to restrict access to the liquor department," the letter states.

The store's liquor department closes at 9 p.m.

City Clerk John Moe explained that the city's ordinance had been in line with the state's previous statute, but the Legislature amended the law around 2011. No one in the city brought forward the idea at the time of amending the city's ordinance, so it stood until Monday at two hours shorter than the state's allowance.

Dan Tikalsky, a manager of Copps on Pinecrest Avenue, said at the Monday meeting that he doesn't expect the change in ordinance to greatly affect sales of beer, but that the amendment was a matter of customer convenience for early-morning shoppers.

Stevens Point Police Chief Kevin Ruder said he's not concerned by the change, largely because the hours were tacked on to the start of the day, rather than the end.

"If it was getting into the prime time hours where it would have been extended from 12 to 2 a.m. for liquor sales, I would have more of a concern," he said.

Council representative Michael O'Meara, who voted against the ordinance amendment, said he thought the hours of 8 a.m. to midnight were sufficient for the sale of alcohol.

"I think that our beer times are liberal enough," he said.

Sari Lesk can be reached at 715-345-2257. Follow her on Twitter as @Sari_Lesk.