With Gov. Nathan Deal signing legislation to let local Georgia cities and counties hold referendums on the Sunday package sale of alcohol, at least three Jackson County municipalities are discussing whether to hold votes on the issue.
All of them are on the west side of the county.
Sunday sales will be on the Braselton Town Council’s agenda Monday night, May 9, city manager Jennifer Dees confirmed.
“They will talk about it at the work session and next Monday that will move forward,” she said.
The move would affect “around 20 businesses” that now sell alcohol by the package.
“We’re already having an election anyway, so it makes sense for the council to put it on because there won’t be another election for two years,” Dees explained.
Next door in Hoschton, Mayor Erma Denney said city councilman Richard Shepherd requested that Sunday sales be added to the city’s work session agenda last Thursday, when the council directed its city attorney to draft an ordinance calling for the vote. The council on Monday waived a first reading of its new ordinance, clearing a path for a vote at their June 6 meeting.
Hoschton has three businesses licensed to sell beer and wine by the package.
In Jefferson, city manager John Ward reports that Sunday sales will be on the agenda for the council’s May 9 work session. If there is sufficient interest, the council could vote as early as May 23 to put the issue on the Nov. 8 ballot to let voters decide whether the city’s 12 stores that sell beer and wine by the package should be able to do so on Sunday. Jefferson has no package sales of liquor, and the referendum would not affect the sale of liquor by the drink.
To date, the issue of Sunday sales has not come up before the Jackson County Board of Commissioners.
“There has been no discussion, no mention of it in any way,” said chairman Hunter Bicknell. “That’s not to say someone might not get in touch with a commissioner and we might discuss it.”
The story is the same in Commerce, according to Mayor Charles L. Hardy Jr.
“There’s been no discussion that I’m aware of,” he said. “As far as I know, we’re not even thinking about it.”
Arcade Mayor Doug Haney and Pendergrass mayor Monk Tolbert did not respond to inquiries regarding Sunday sales. The cities of Talmo, Nicholson and Maysville do not currently allow package sales.
The legislation gives those jurisdictions that already have package sales an opportunity to place before the voters a measure that would expand sales to Sundays from 12:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Currently, package sales are prohibited on Sundays altogether, although some jurisdictions with liquor by the drink sales allow those sales on Sunday.
The law cannot be used to approve package sales in jurisdictions where there are currently no package sales.
Rep. Tommy Benton, who represents most of the county in the Georgia House, voted for the legislation authorizing the referendums. But he does not intend to vote for Sunday sales.
“If the referendum comes up in Jefferson, I’ll vote against it,” he said.
During the legislative session, Benton explained that he supported the bill because it gave the voters the ability to decide whether people should be able to buy alcohol on Sundays in their communities.
