Why Should Delaware Care?
Many Wilmington neighborhoods are saturated with liquor stores. City officials want the power to restrict where new stores can open, but they can’t act without state approval. Although the issue reached the Legislature just a few years ago, state support remains uncertain.
Wilmington officials want more regulations on liquor stores in the city, but they need permission from the state to impose them.
It is not certain they will get it.
Last week, the Wilmington City Council passed a resolution that asked the state legislature to adopt a measure allowing the city to limit where new liquor stores can be located.
Spotlight Delaware has since asked legislators who represent parts of Delaware’s largest city about the resolution. Their responses have ranged from being supportive but noncommittal to being outright opposed, citing the resolution’s similarity to other legislation that may already be in the works.
Councilwoman Shané Darby, the resolution sponsor, said during last week’s council meeting that she believes her district and other parts of the city are oversaturated with liquor stores.
And, she claimed, the stores attract crime and loitering.
“In my district, in a three-block radius, I have three liquor stores,” she said. “They’re a poison. I don’t need three liquor stores. I don’t want any more liquor stores.”
There are 47 retail liquor stores in Wilmington, according to Stacey Haddock Hassel, deputy commissioner of the Office of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commissioner.
Darby’s resolution also asked lawmakers to require the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Commissioner to deny licenses that violate the local ordinances.
The Office of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commissioner declined to comment for this story.
Darby’s measure passed unanimously among those present, with seven council members voting in favor and the remaining six absent from the meeting.
Councilwoman Latisha Bracey emphasized the importance of giving the council the authority to enact such measures, noting that liquor stores are disproportionately concentrated in low-income Black and brown communities.
“It is important that as we talk about true neighborhood revitalization, that we have to have the tools to be able to attack some of what is very problematic in these communities,” she said.
Competing proposals?
After the resolution passed, Darby’s search for a legislator to carry the bill to Dover began.
It is not the first time the topic of liquor store regulation has been discussed in the legislature. In fact, Darby’s resolution was partially inspired by a state bill proposed by Rep. Stephanie Bolden (D-Wilmington) and State Sen. Darius Brown (D-Wilmington) that failed to pass in 2022.
Like Darby’s resolution, Bolden’s bill would have allowed Wilmington to set stricter rules on liquor store placement, requiring the Alcohol Commissioner to deny licenses to businesses that didn’t comply.
The bill passed the House unanimously, but never made it to the Senate floor.
Brown said he and Bolden intend to propose a similar bill for the new legislative session, which begins in January.
He stressed that the new bill “has absolutely nothing to do with the councilwoman or her resolution.”
“I want to make sure there is no attribution to her in any context around it,” he said.
Brown also told Spotlight Delaware that no member from the City Council reached out to him to discuss the issue, even though, he said, Darby’s legislation used Bolden’s 2022 state bill “verbatim.”
He further asserted that Darby’s effort is “nothing but her trying to raise her profile” for a 2026 campaign for a legislative seat, currently held by Rep. Nnamdi Chukwuocha (D-Wilmington).
In April, Darby announced she plans to run for a seat in the state House of Representatives next year.
Asked to respond to Brown’s comments, Darby said, “F*** what he’s talking about. Quote me.”
For his part, Chukwuocha said he appreciates the intention of Darby’s resolution, but doesn’t believe it will do any good for the city. He said current state law already prohibits new stores from locating within a half-mile of an existing liquor store.
Chukwuocha was also a co-sponsor of Bolden’s previous bill.
The remaining Wilmington area legislators were noncommittal when asked about Darby’s resolution.
Bolden said she would look into the matter.
State Sen. Dan Cruce (D-Wilmington) said he is interested in the measure, but knew few of the details.
And Rep. Josue Ortega (D-Wilmington) said there are a lot of liquor stores in his district, but emphasized that he hasn’t made up his mind on potential legislation.
Wilmington State Sen. Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman did not respond to requests for comment.