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Commissioners amend alcohol-license buffer distances, add daycares to 1,000-foot rule in first reading
Summary
On first reading the board approved edits to a draft ordinance that will measure the 1,000-foot buffer to the corner of school buildings and will reduce buffers for funeral homes and cemeteries (to state minimums) while adding daycares to the 1,000-foot restriction. Commissioners requested staff revise the ordinance language and return it for further consideration.
The board took first reading action on an updated ordinance that establishes buffer zones for approval of retail alcohol licenses. Staff explained the draft identifies eight zones and preserves the state minimums but that the board must clarify certain measurement rules and whether daycares should be treated as schools for buffer purposes.
Commissioners asked whether distance should be measured corner-to-corner of buildings or from property lines; staff read the ordinance language and clarified that the distance is measured in a straight line "from the nearest corner of the building housing the business to the nearest corner of the school building... or to the nearest corner of the school ground or cemetery grounds." Several commissioners suggested adding daycares to the 1,000-foot restriction and reducing the buffer for funeral homes and cemeteries to the state minimum (300 feet) for those uses.
A motion was made to approve the ordinance first reading with those edits (reduce cemetery and funeral-home buffers to state standards and add daycares to the 1,000-foot requirement). The motion passed; staff will update the ordinance text and return it for further consideration at the next available reading.
The board emphasized it cannot conflict with state minimums and that any local change must either preserve or add to state protections.
