City Council Approves New Alcohol Ordinance
Tuesday, November 5th, 2024
The Dalton Mayor and Council held a special called meeting on Tuesday morning to consider a vote on new rules for the sale of alcoholic beverages. The Council voted to approve Ordinance 24-27 which modifies Chapter 6 of the City's Code of Ordinances. Among other changes, the new code creates additional categories of licenses that allow for the sale of distilled spirits. Previously, a business had to be considered a bona fide restaurant in order to sell distilled spirits. The new ordinance also clarifies the time when various license holders must stop serving alcohol. (información en español)
Caption: The Dalton Mayor and Council met at City Hall on Tuesday morning to consider the City's alcohol ordinance
The City of Dalton had studied changes to Chapter 6 of the City's Code of Ordinances for much of the year. Chapter 6 deals with licenses and rules for the sale of alcoholic beverages in Dalton. The review was part of a larger review of the Code of Ordinances to ensure the ordinances were not in conflict with the City's new charter and current state laws. City leaders laid out proposed changes at public meetings in March, August, and September. In response to feedback from the public and business community at those meetings, the proposed ordinance went through a series of changes as leaders worked to craft an ordinance that served the community and business community alike. The Mayor and Council held a final public work session on the ordinance Monday evening before their regular meeting.
CLICK HERE to read the complete Ordinance 24-27 revising the City's alcohol code
The new alcohol code has two new categories of businesses that can sell distilled spirits. Bars or cafés can now obtain pouring distilled spirits licenses. A "bar" is defined as any business that is licensed to sell alcoholic beverages and derives 75 percent or more of its annual gross revenue from alcohol sales for consumption on site. A "café" is defined as any business licensed to sell alcoholic beverages that derives at least 25 percent of its annual gross revenue from the sale of food and non-alcoholic beverages. "Restaurants", which are businesses that derive a minimum of 50 percent of their annual gross revenue from the sale of prepared meals or food, are the third category of business able to obtain a pouring distilled spirits license. Restaurants are the only category able to sell alcohol for consumption on the premises on Sundays in accordance with Georgia's "brunch bill." Both the definitions of "café" and "restaurant" have several other requirements for a business to be considered a café or restaurant which can be found in the text of the ordinance.
CLICK HERE to watch video of Tuesday's special called meeting
Under the new alcohol code, bars and cafés can serve alcohol until 1:00 am. Patrons must leave the premises by 1:30 am. Restaurants are allowed to serve alcohol until 2:00 am. Restaurants may remain open and continue to serve food, but all alcoholic beverages must be off of tables and consumption must end by 3:00 am.
Previous drafts of Ordinance 24-27 included provisions that would have required pouring alcohol outlets to use ID scanners and install security cameras at public points of entry, but those provisions have been removed from the final version that was enacted by the City Council. A provision requiring alcohol handlers training for staff at pouring alcohol outlets was also removed from the final version. A requirement to have security personnel on site for outlets selling distilled spirits remains in the final version of the ordinance, but only takes effect at 10:00 pm.
The final version of the new alcohol code also returns the responsibility for first review new alcoholic beverage license applications to the Dalton Public Safety Commission (PSC). The PSC will make recommendations on new applications to the Mayor and Council which has final authority to grant or deny the applications. The PSC also can review violations of the alcohol code.
The Council voted 3-0 to approve the ordinance. Councilmember Tyree Goodlett was not present and Mayor Annalee Sams typically only votes in the event of a tie. The new alcohol code will take effect on January 1st, 2025 which will give retailers the opportunity to review the new rules and either renew their licenses or apply for one of the new license categories if they wish.
You can click here to read a series of previous updates on the history of this ordinance.
