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News
Ordinance will help explain liquor vote
BY BRIAN K. FINNICUM, EDITOR
Friday, September 14, 2007 8:20 AM CDT
At the Tuesday Fannin County Board of Commissioners meeting, Post 1 Commissioner Tommy Ledford said many residents had been expressing concerns about what the scheduled Nov. 6 referendum on liquor by the drink would allow.
“We want people to know exactly what they’re voting on,” said Ledford. “It’s not going to be nightclubs, it’s not going to be roadhouses, it’s going to be restaurants. He said establishments selling liquor would be strongly governed.
Post 2 Commissioner Steve Morris said he thought the ordinance spelling out control and licensing of establishments selling liquor needed to be ready before the November election because the state-mandated wording on the referendum question is very vague.
“I think that’s a very important point,” said Chairman Howell Bruce Jr.
Wednesday, County Attorney Lynn Doss said she was already working on drafting an ordinance at the commissioners’ request, and that the first draft of the ordinance was about 95 percent complete.
Doss said that under Georgia law, there are three licensing levels for alcoholic beverage sales. The first is for retail or package sales of malt beverages (beer) and wine, which the commission board has the authority to implement and control.
The second level is for sales of distilled spirits (liquor) by the drink for on-premises consumption, which requires approval by the voters in a public referendum. Once voters approve, the commission board then has the authority to specify where such on-premises consumption can be.
The third level is for package sales of liquor. That requires a referendum separate from the referendum for on-premises consumption, Doss said, and that referendum can only come in response to petitions signed by at least 35 percent of the county’s registered voters calling for it.
Doss said if liquor by the drink for on-premises consumption is approved by voters, the commission board can restrict those sales based on their percentage of the establishment’s total revenue.
In order for an establishment to be classified as a restaurant, more than 50 percent of its revenue must come from food sales.
Doss said restrictions that initially are included in the draft ordinance she is working on include on-site consumption only - that not even a partly consumed drink may be taken off the premises. All alcoholic beverage sales would end each night at midnight, and there would be no Sunday sales allowed.
Sales would be restricted to restaurants only, with at least 55 percent of the establishment’s revenue coming from food sales, and such restaurants would have to serve at least two meals each day.
Any wait staff taking orders for, or serving, alcoholic beverages would have to be at least 21 years of age. Drive-though service would not be allowed, nor would bars, lewd dancing or strip tease shows.
Doss said a residency requirement will be included for primary license holders, and licensed managers will be required to be on premises anytime alcoholic beverages are served. She said initial discussion had been that transfer of licenses would not be allowed.
All license holders would be required to submit to criminal background checks at both the local and state level, and no licenses would be granted to anyone who had been convicted of a felony in the previous 10 years, or an alcohol-related misdemeanor in the past three years.
Setbacks will be specified for distance from churches, schools, state-licensed daycare facilities and nursing homes. Doss said there has been no discussion yet about specifying any minimum distances between establishments selling liquor, or of limiting the total number of licenses issued.
Doss said two classes of licenses are being considered at least initially - one for beer and wine and another for liquor. She said the liquor license likely will specify a minimum seating size for the restaurant; probably at least 40 seats or more.
“There’s lots of safeguards built in,” Doss said.
She said the ordinance likely will be complete in time for the commission board to have the required two public hearings and vote to enact it before the Nov. 6 referendum. Such action would be contingent upon the referendum measure being approved by voters.
Doss said the referendum and any ordinance would not have any effect in the cities of Blue Ridge, McCaysville or Morganton. She said those cities could individually choose to allow beer and wine sales by the drink, but each would have to hold their own referendum in order to allow liquor sales.
Also, she said if the referendum passes, brown bagging would then be prohibited in the county.
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