The City of Clarkesville decided to table voting on a package sales ordinance at their Dec. 6 meeting until early 2022 as they continue to discuss their plans for the ordinance.
The city’s voters approved the sale of distilled spirits within city limits during the Nov. 2021 municipal election, and while the city has the ability to start selling on Jan. 1 if an ordinance is in place, the council isn’t worried about having the ordinance done by the first of the year.
Clarkesville city attorney, Janney Sanders, and city manager, Keith Dickerson, have worked together to lay out a draft of the ordinance over the past few months, but the council hasn’t put their final touches on it.
“I think we should take our time with this,” Councilman Steven Ward said. “We need to look at a map and make sure [we agree with] where Keith has outlined and maybe just go out and drive to see where these locations would be.”
The council needs to decide on specifics of the ordinance, such as how many stores will be allowed within city limits, store inventory minimums, where liquor stores can be located, licensing fees and other specifics that will designate how liquor stores would populate the city.
Councilwoman Roxie Barron expressed her concerns that the number of liquor stores in the city needed to be controlled to preserve Clarkesville’s historic charm. Barron also shared that she believes the city doesn’t need more than two liquor stores, and that letting demand control where, and how many, liquor stores came to the city wasn’t wise.
“We just got the historic designation,” Barron said. “I think we need to really focus on maintaining some of our quaintness and our [history], rather than saying the market is going to control it. I don’t always trust the market.”
State laws indicate that liquor stores cannot be in residential zones, and must be 100 yards away from churches and 200 yards away from schools. The council seems to be in consensus that they are not interested in allowing liquor stores in the historic downtown area.
The council plans to further discuss the ordinance at their work session, and vote on an ordinance in February.
