Friday, September 12, 2003

New alcoholic beverage ordinance measures up

By LINDSAY BIANCHI
Special to The Citizen

Eat, drink, and be merry but only if you measure up. In an effort to give a little more life to the city of Fairburn, a revision of the alcoholic beverage ordinance was passed Monday night by the City Council.

The only real change, but a significant one, dealt with proper distances between establishments who sell alcoholic beverages and other structures such as churches, schools and libraries.

Previously, the ordinance only allowed alcohol sales 200 yards from churches or school building.

The ordinance now states that "no license be issued...for the sale of any distilled alcoholic beverages located within 100 yards of any church building; 100 yards of any school building, school grounds or college campus for malt beverages or wine or 200 yards for distilled beverages; and 100 yards of any alcoholic treatment center owned and operated by the State of Georgia, Fulton County or the City of Fairburn."

The method of measuring these distances begins at "the closest point of the licensed premises to the nearest property line of the church, school, college campus or treatment center by the most direct route of travel on the ground."

Councilman Marian Johnson spoke in favor of the change saying, "If we are ever going to develop downtown Fairburn we have to have some restaurants that serve beer and wine. That is why I move that we adopt this. We need it."

Councilman Roy Farr added, "We got beer and wine all the way up and down this road out here. I don't see any reason not to go with the state ordinance like everybody else in all the other cities."

Harvey Melear was the only council member who disagreed and voted against the change. He cited the new method of measurement as his reason and mentioned the "landlot to landlot" method as his preference.

It was also decided Monday evening to create a recreation commission to handle the revitalization of Duncan Park. The proposed committee will consist of five members who will serve on the commission for a period of 3 years. "Right now we are just trying to get in control to see what the city can afford to do out there. We want to do our very best. We do not want to fail because it is a good park. We are really fortunate to have it in our city limits," said Mayor Betty Hannah.

In addition, the finance staff for Fairburn, headed by Brad Williams, was recognized for their dedication to their jobs. City Administrator Jim Williams introduced the group to the council.

"They have put in countless hours getting the new utility billing system installed. I just want to personally give them a lot of thanks for the hard work they've done. It's really made a difference in the way the city operates."