PLAISTOW — Requiring businesses to pay a fee to stay open on Sundays could bring in about $30,000 in new revenue for the town.
Selectmen are moving on the possibility of enacting an ordinance that would require most businesses that are open on Sundays to pay a fee. Selectman Dan Poliquin said board members have agreed that a fee based on square footage would generate the most revenue.
Legally speaking, most stores aren't supposed to open their doors on Sunday in New Hampshire, according to an 1860 state law. Only the sale of milk, bread, medicine and other necessities is allowed. But in most communities, the law isn't enforced.
Plaistow's attempt to cash in on the state's so-called blue law is similar to existing ordinances in Manchester, Salem and Windham.
Manchester's method would be the most lucrative for the town, Poliquin said. Businesses there are charged $50 for the first 1,500 square feet and $2 for each additional square foot.
The maximum fee Plaistow would charge any one business would be $1,000. While businesses that sell food or pharmacy drugs could not be included, some "big box" stores and car dealerships would likely be billed the full amount, he said.
"With car dealerships, you have to count their floor plan, which is actually their parking lot," Poliquin said. "There's probably eight dealerships that would hit the maximum."
But many business owners asked yesterday said they would not pay the Sunday operating fee.
Karen Carpenter, of AutoMart of New England on Danville Road, said she doubted her business would pay for something it has been doing for 10 years.
"I'm guessing not," she said. "It wouldn't be my decision, but I'm saying probably not."
Carpenter said she doesn't know how many square feet the business owns, and that's a piece the town hasn't figured out yet either.
Plaistow has more than 250 commercial properties, many of which house more than one store, Poliquin said. But there is no record of how many of those are open on Sundays, he said.
To hit the estimated revenue mark, he said the town would like to find a way to charge Wal-Mart and other large retailers that sell food. One way to do that would be to section off those portions of the stores, and then charge for the rest of the space.
Storefronts that are 1,975 square feet or larger would hit the $1,000 maximum — an easy mark for many spaces on Route 125.
Plaistow will see revenue "in a heartbeat," Poliquin said.
Interim Town Administrator Jason Hoch is gathering all the information necessary before the selectmen make a final decision.
"Selectmen wouldn't be doing their job if they weren't trying to increase revenue," Hoch said. "Before they go barrelling into passing something, we have to have a conversation on the what-ifs."
Some of those factors include whether to charge seasonal businesses, at-home occupations, businesses inside other businesses and what kind of database to keep all that information in, he said.
The Assessing Department is working with Hoch to pull information on properties and calculate square footage. The cost of implementing and maintaining the ordinance in-house must be weighed against those values, he said.
And so must the political cost, as some businesses are likely not going to like the idea of paying to stay open on Sundays, Hoch said.
