Tallulah Falls voters this fall will decide whether to allow Sunday alcohol (beer and wine) by the drink sales in the town. They’ll also choose whether to allow beer and wine to be sold by the drink at Sunday brunch.
The Tallulah Falls Town Council unanimously voted at their meeting Thursday night to place the two alcohol referendums on the November ballot. Councilmember Tom Tilley was absent from the meeting.
The ‘brunch bill’ was not on the council’s agenda but was brought up during the discussion as the second part of the referendum.
“The state requires that we (the council) put it on the ballot. It’s not a decision the council will make; it’s a decision the residents have to make,” Tallulah Falls Mayor Mike Early explained to the council.
What the referendums would allow
If voters approve, Sunday malt beverage and wine by the drink sales would be allowed in Tallulah Falls between 12:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.
City administrator Linda Lapeyrouse explained the brunch bill is a separate referendum. It would allow restaurants who have brunch to serve beer and wine at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays.
Town attorney Warren Tillery explained to the council that the brunch bill could fail and Sunday package sales could pass. However, both referendums will fail if the Sunday package sales referendum fails.
“We’ll pull something together (an ordinance). We may need to have a special meeting,” Mayor Early said.
The ballot initiative may still be months away, but already, it has some early support.
When asked her thoughts about Sunday package sales, Tallulah Falls resident Mary Beth Hughes said, “I’m fine with that.” However, she questioned the reasoning behind the brunch bill referendum, “Really? Do we need to have a separate vote on coming to drink an hour earlier? Evidently, we do, so, ok, yeah. Let’s put that referendum out there and see what people think about it.”
David Hart said matter-of-factly, “I’m in favor of it.”
“I don’t know that much about the brunch sales, but that sounds fine for restaurants that are open for brunch, but the Sunday sales are happening everywhere. You can do package sales just across the Habersham County line, so to have it in our town, I just think it would bring more people,” said Cissy Henry.
This article has been corrected to reflect that Tallulah Falls voters will not vote on Sunday package sales in November as previously reported.
