Committee of the Whole Meeting - A. MAX BACON CITY HALL, HR TRAINING ROOM — Minutes
Open official source ↗ · Source page 2
January 16, 2025 6:00 PM City of Smyrna Mayor and Council Meeting 2800 King Street SE Human Resources Training Room Page 2 of 9 The code amendment would allow sales representatives, manufacturers and wholesalers to hold tastings at local package stores. State Law O.C.G.A. § 3-3-26 and O.C.G.A. Tit. 3, Ch. 15 provide the minimum requirements for these tastings should the local government permit them through their local ordinance. Community Development reviewed the alcoholic beverage ordinances of several local municipalities, including, Sandy Springs, Alpharetta, Woodstock, Marietta and Cobb County. The municipalities address alcohol tastings in different ways. Some municipalities address it through ancillary tastings, some in verbatim to state code and prohibit tastings out right. Further, the Community Development Department and the City Attorney have reviewed the State’s Code with regard to alcoholic beverage tastings at package stores. To allow for tastings at package stores, the city would be required to make amendments to several sections of Chapter 6 the Alcoholic Beverage Ordinance. Community Development is proposing the following amendments to the City’s Alcoholic Beverage Ordinance: The following are proposed code amendments to Chapter 6 of the City’s Code of Ordinances and are presented in draft legislative format (underlined items should be added and items with strikethroughs should be removed): Repeal Section 6-75 to Chapter 6 – Alcoholic Beverage Ordinance to remove any inconsistency with other tasting requirements. Sec. 6-74. - Educational tastings of wine or malt beverages (a) As used in this section, the term "educational tasting license" shall be limited to a person possessing a current license from the city for the sale of wine or malt beverages by the package and in grocery store locations whose total interior floor area, inclusive of storage area, exceeds 25,000 square feet. (b) All eligible licensees may petition the city for an educational tasting permit provided it meets all other requirements of the city's alcoholic beverage ordinance and presently maintains a valid license from the city for the sale of wine or malt beverages by the package. An educational tasting permit shall allow the permittee to offer and sell wine or malt beverage samples in connection with an instructional or educational promotion. An educational tasting permit is intended to allow such activity on a limited basis and shall not be part of the core operations of such establishment or on a daily basis. (c) No tastings shall be conducted on the premises of any place of business licensed to sell distilled spirits, unless associated with a distillery, as defined by the state and as referenced in section 6-75 of this article. (d) Any tasting occurring on the premises of a business possessing a license to sell wine or malt beverages by the package shall be limited to an area that is separated from the retail area of the premises by walls or other partitions that prohibit pedestrian traffic through the tasting area. (e) All annual permit renewals shall be made in the same manner and during same time periods as other alcoholic beverage license renewals. All renewals are subject to audit prior to being renewed to ensure compliance with this section. (f) The educational tasting permit shall be subject to any requirements in this chapter pertaining to enforcement and revocation proceedings and shall be automatically revoked if the alcoholic beverage package license is revoked.