The state of Michigan has until Thursday to respond to a lawsuit filed against the Michigan Liquor Control Commission.
The Commission last week threw out a 1979 rule that generally stopped liquor retailers from operating within a half mile of each other.
The Associated Food and Petroleum Dealers, a non-profit group that represents both big grocers and small store owners, is suing the state to keep the rule in place.
The suit filed in the Michigan Court of Claims that said the measure offered licensed alcohol retailers security from what it called an already saturated market and protected communities from having liquor retailers on every corner in the state.
The suit claims the liquor control commission violated state law by rescinding the half-mile rule without a public hearing.