The Fayetteville City Council at the Sept. 3 meeting will consider extending the use of temporary business signs to help offset problems caused by the recession. The council will also hear the first reading of a proposed amendment to the alcohol permit ordinance.

The board will consider a resolution extending the use of temporary signs to help businesses attract customers during the recession. If approved, the extension will be good for another six months.

The three types of signage specified in the resolution include banners, stake signs and A-frame signs. City staff are recommending the extension for an additional six-month period, noting that there have been no complaints from the community.

The measure includes allowing four banner signs per year instead of two for a 30-day period and allowing two banners at a time instead of one. Also included in the resolution are the provisions for allowing three stake signs instead of one and allowing A-frame signs to be displayed more than 20 feet from the business rather than less than 20 feet away. Other specifications of the sign ordinance still apply.

Relating to the proposal on serving alcohol, Chief Steve Heaton in an August memo on the proposal said he and Peachtree City Police Chief Skip Clark had worked with their respective city managers and city attorneys to make corrections to the server permit section of the ordinance.

The section on rejecting the issue or re-issue of a handling permit was revised to include anyone who has been convicted of a state law violation or has been convicted of the misuse of alcohol, including an offense for driving under the influence within the past two years.

Another provision pertaining to the prohibition of issuing a handling permit includes anyone who has pled guilty more than once or has been convicted more than once of a violation of state law relating to the manufacture or sale of alcoholic beverages.

Aside from minor changes in verbiage, the other section of the proposed amendment deals with the appeal process after a permit has been denied or not renewed. The excluded employee can take the case to an appeal board consisting of the chiefs of police. The applicant can appeal that board’s decision in Fayette County Superior Court.

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