QUINCY, Mass. – Today the City Council will decide whether to eliminate a decades-old law that bans gas stations in Quincy from selling food — dairy products and other food products — unless they’re sold in a vending machine.

The Patriot-Ledger reports that City Council President Michael McFarland proposed the change, noting that all of the communities that border Quincy allow gas stations to sell food items such as donuts, coffee and sandwiches. “I’ve had people come to me and say, ‘I can’t even buy a soda or a cup of coffee (at a gas station). What’s up with you guys in Quincy? You’re living in the Dark Ages,’” he told the newspaper, adding that the change will “bring gas stations into the 21st century.”

The intent of the 1972 law was to avoid having oil and food products under the same roof, notes the newspaper, adding that previous attempts by gas station operators to overturn the law had failed with past city councils. The newspaper writes that there are 15 gas stations in Quincy.

Under McFarland’s proposal, the property must be between 15,000 and 20,000 square feet in size, and its building no bigger than 5,000 square feet.