A German Village restaurant is asking residents of its Columbus precinct to approve Sunday wine and mixed beverage sales on the May 5 primary ballot — a process rooted in Ohio liquor law that traces back to Prohibition and continues to require neighborhood-level voter approval for something as routine as a Sunday glass of wine.
Ohio’s liquor laws require separate voter approval at the precinct level for restaurants to serve alcohol on Sundays. The Sycamore, located at 262 East Sycamore Street in German Village, is asking neighbors to support Issue 8B on the May 5 ballot to allow Sunday sales of wine and mixed beverages.
Under state law, businesses must obtain a D-6 permit in order to sell intoxicating liquor on Sundays, including wine, spirits and prepackaged cocktails. These permits require approval from local voters. Businesses must generally gather 50 valid signatures from voters in their precinct before the issue can proceed to the ballot.
How Ohio Ended Up Here
The system dates to the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, when Ohio voters decided at the precinct level where they wanted to permit spirits to be sold again, according to Paul Kulwinski, Director of Licensing and Interim Superintendent at the Ohio Division of Liquor Control. “There’s various ways Ohio regulates alcohol, but one of those is what we call through local option election, wet/dry laws,” Kulwinski said. “It is really putting the power in the voters’ hands to have some control over what’s in their neighborhood and what can be sold.”
In 1973, the Ohio Statehouse repealed a majority of the state’s “blue laws,” which once banned a variety of activities on Sundays, including sporting events, gambling and hunting. However, restrictions on alcohol sales on Sundays have lingered.
The result is a patchwork system that can produce different rules for neighboring businesses — and, in some cases, different rules for different types of alcohol sold by the same business. The Sycamore’s situation mirrors that of other German Village establishments that have navigated the same process. Schmidt’s Sausage Haus, the long-standing German Village restaurant, faced an identical restriction and placed a Sunday wine and spirits sales question before voters in Columbus Precinct 2-b in 2022. Schmidt’s COO Carla Eppler said the restriction had a direct business impact: “We’ve lost entire parties before because we can’t serve wine on Sunday.”
The Cost of the System
State Rep. Jack Daniels (R-New Franklin) has described the ballot process as a burden on both businesses and local governments. He cited a September 2023 election in Summit County where a local liquor issue was the only measure on the ballot, only seven people voted, and the election carried a cost of $43,913.
Once a precinct votes wet, that location remains permitted unless a subsequent election reverses the decision, according to Aaron Sellers, public information officer at the Franklin County Board of Elections. The results of a local liquor option election affect all territory that constituted the precinct at the time of the election, even if precinct boundaries later change.
A bipartisan bill at the Ohio Statehouse has sought to remove the voter-approval requirement entirely. Rep. Daniels teamed with Rep. Mark Sigrist (D-Grove City) to introduce House Bill 387, which would permit local governments to authorize Sunday alcohol sales without requiring a precinct election. The bill had 21 co-sponsors but awaited a committee assignment and its first hearing as of mid-2025. The Ohio House has not confirmed whether HB 387 has advanced since that time. Authorities have not confirmed additional details about the bill’s current status.
The May 5 primary election in Franklin County opens polls at 6:30 a.m. and closes at 7:30 p.m. German Village residents can confirm whether their address falls within the precinct affected by Issue 8B by visiting the Franklin County Board of Elections at vote.franklincountyohio.gov or calling 614-525-5393.
Sources
- Ohio Revised Code § 4301.32 — Local liquor option elections
- Ohio Administrative Code Rule 4301:1-1-49 — Sunday sales hours
- Ohio Secretary of State — Guide to Local Liquor Options Elections (ohiosos.gov)
- Franklin County Board of Elections — vote.franklincountyohio.gov
Last Updated: May 3, 2026 at 10:00 ET
Disclaimer: This article is based on information released by Columbus authorities and reputable sources at the time of publication. Details may change as investigations continue.