(Update) Atlanta City Council passes ’speciality food shop’ legislation
March 17th, 2009 by Thomas Wheatley in RestaurantsLovers of gourmet food and alcohol rejoice! That quaint store where you could buy luxurious-sounding grub — but not wine — may soon be able to legally stock booze.
Yesterday, the Atlanta City Council passed legislation that would allow such gourmet food shops as the Cabbagetown Market and the Mercantile on DeKalb Avenue to stock beer, wine and malt beverages. The legislation, which essentially now gives those and similar stores a legal classification in the city’s code, was penned by Councilmember Natalyn Archibong and passed 8-2. Such stores won’t be allowed to sell lotto tickets or “other games of chance,” gasoline or tobacco. They also can’t operate drive-thru windows or cash checks. But bring on the booze!
If she chooses, Mayor Shirley Franklin has eight days to veto the bill.
To peruse Archibong’s bill, laden with good ole fashioned legalese and multiple uses of “whereas,” click here. Keep in mind that an amendment — supposedly a minor tweak — was added to the legislation. I’m waiting on Archibong’s staff to return a call and clarify what in entails.
UPDATE: Here’s the “specialty food store” legislation as passed in Monday’s council meeting. I received some emails from folks who said they had problems opening the file I posted yesterday. If this one fails to open, shoot me an email and I’ll send it to you directly.
March 17th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Booze?
Way to stoke the fundamentalist opposition, dude. We’re not talking Everclear here.
Do you honestly think that being allowed to buy a good bottle of wine or a local craft beer at your neighborhood market is something to be lampooned?
We’re talking about about a part of daily life that most civilized places simply take for granted.
March 17th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
But still unable on a SUNDAY to buy a bottle of wine or beer to go with that prosciutto-and-arugula sandwich.
March 17th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
BT,
Whoa, my friend. I wasn’t trying to stoke the fundamentalist opposition. If I wanted to do that, I’d call it “nefarious nectar” or something ridiculous along those lines. I just wanted to use another word for “alcohol.”
March 17th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
BT,
Thanks for pointing that out, by the way. I didn’t notice I used “booze” back-to-back in that paragraph. Changed it.
March 17th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I’m for Sunday alcohol sales but if you’re eating prosciutto-and-arugula sandwiches, you probably already have a fully stocked cellar!