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City attorney outlines broad alcohol-code overhaul; staff asks for 30-day moratorium extension
Summary
City attorney Scott presented comprehensive amendments to Chapter 6 to clarify licensing, appeals, enforcement, and treatment of consumable hemp products; staff asked council to extend a moratorium on new alcohol licenses by 30 days to allow adoption and administrative updates.
City attorney Scott presented a consolidated rewrite of Chapter 6 of the Chamblee code, describing several key changes: consolidate application and denial grounds, reorganize and clarify revocation grounds, introduce limited cost sharing for license appeals, tighten timelines for appeal resolution, remove outdated residency and suspension provisions, and address consumable hemp products by counting them with alcohol sales in applicable revenue tests. Scott said the code would also require that a manager or other responsible person be on-site whenever an establishment is open so police would have a point of contact at problem locations.
Scott summarized the operational changes: "Number 4, we require alcohol licensing to maintain records on those sales." He also said staff consolidated buffer/location rules and would add a 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. closure time for packaged liquor stores to make sale and closure times clearer.
Council members asked several questions about how the CPA-verified food sales affidavit would be applied and suggested triggers to limit burden (first-year verification, change in ownership, or multi-year intervals). Scott provided license counts to frame the scope: "There are a 126 alcohol licensees. About 50 of them are consumption on premises, and that's who the CPA affidavit or the food sales affidavit applies to." Council discussed balancing business burden against enforcement and suggested a combination of intervals and triggers.
Because first reading on the amendments would fall after the sunset of the existing moratorium on new alcohol licenses, staff requested a 30-day extension so the city could finish the ordinance, update paperwork, and then accept completed applications only after the extension ends. Staff said applicants could still provide documentation to staff during the extension but would not be able to submit completed license applications until the moratorium expired. Council heard the request and staff's rationale; the extension request will be placed on the agenda for formal action.
