GRIFFIN, Ga. — The City of Griffin is considering changing its alcohol ordinance and city leaders want to know what the public, and business owners, think about it.
The proposed changes to the city’s Alcohol Code were first discussed in a September 2024 commission meeting.
While there are a large variety of changes, city officials making the presentation last year said the ordinances had not been updated since 2017.
The public will have three opportunities to provide feedback on the proposal, and they won’t have to wait long.
There are three public meetings scheduled to discuss the changes, taking place on April 9, 10 and 11 at three town hall meetings. Commissioners will use the feedback to draft an ordinance for consideration on April 22.
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Here is a summary of the proposal for changing Griffin’s alcohol regulations.
The changes would include adding language to remove a public club as an allowed establishment to serve alcohol, requiring businesses would have to pay their alcohol license fee at the same time they turn in their license renewal applications, would require security cameras for bars and liquor stores and would make businesses provide footage to police on request.
If businesses don’t provide those videos to police within a certain amount of time, they could face fines and possibly lose their liquor licenses.
Additionally, the proposals would require that businesses with on-site alcohol consumption would have to stop serving drinks at midnight all week, and tables would have to be clear of alcohol by 12:30 a.m. Bars would also have to close at 1 a.m.
The city would also require that bars hire off-duty, POST-certified officers from the Griffin Police Department to work security and if one is not available, a POST-certified Spalding deputy must be hired instead.
Bar and business owners with on-site drinking must also be responsible for keeping the peace, with the proposal requiring that they ensure no employees, customers or others cause disturbances, “engage in loud, boisterous, lewd or obscene behavior at the business.”
The owner and manager are responsible for making sure the parking lots and areas outside do not allow customers or other people from “standing, sitting, mingling, or assembling outside the licensed premises in a manner which causes or contributes to disturbances or illegal acts.”
For off-site liquor consumption, businesses that sell alcoholic beverages would have to maintain a wholesale inventory annual minimum of $150,000 in distilled spirits, while convenience stores would see theirs increase to $20,000 if selling food and grocery items, excluding tobacco, alcohol and candy.
New liquor store licenses cannot be allowed within a mile of another liquor store or licensed business. Currently, the distance is 500 yards.
Package stores would also not be allowed to cover their windows and the city would require their interiors be visible from the outside at all times of day or night.
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