Planning commission recommends allowing distilled-alcohol package sales as conditional use in C2

The Jones County Planning & Zoning Commission voted to recommend a text amendment that would allow distilled-alcohol package sales as a conditional use in the county's C2 commercial zoning district.

Tim Pietrowski, a planning staff member who presented the proposal, said the measure is a follow-up to a prior request and would 'enable alcohol sales to take place in the C2 district as a conditional use.' He said the amendment is limited to adding the single new subsection and that any licensing or operational requirements would be handled separately by the Board of Commissioners.

A member of the public, Britney Calhoun, said she was taking a neutral stance and asked for confirmation that the current text change is a short, one-sentence insertion; staff confirmed that is correct. After brief board discussion the commission made a motion to approve and voted in favor of forwarding the recommended amendment to the Board of Commissioners for a final decision on Tuesday, Sept. 1 at the same location.

The recommendation does not itself change licensing requirements; staff said separate county ordinance language will address licensing and other conditions should the Board adopt the amendment.

What happens next: The Board of Commissioners will receive the planning commission's recommendation on Sept. 1 and may adopt, modify, or reject the zoning text amendment. If adopted as recommended, establishments seeking distilled-alcohol package sales in C2 would need to obtain a conditional-use approval and comply with any county licensing rules that are later adopted.