By Lauren Thornton Tobin

Hartselle City Council members discussed with city attorney Larry Madison the upcoming alcohol ordinance at their work session on Nov. 22.

Madison told council members that the state law prohibits some things local governments can and can’t do, but local governments are in charge of issues such as Sunday sales and draft beer.

“(The state) has no authority to prohibit the sale of single chilled beer and wine,” he said, addressing members’ concern about the city not selling cold beverages. “If we want to continue with the prohibition of iced down singles, we need to leave that in the ordinance.”

Mayor Randy Garrison asked if prohibiting the sale of single chilled beverages would affect the sale of warm single beverages. Madison said it would not.

Another change council members made to the ordinance pertains to wine tastings.

According to the ordinance, an establishment that principally sells clothes, home décor, jewelry, art or antiques can also sell domestic and imported wine in unopened containers for off-premises use, as long as wine sales are no more than 10 percent of the store’s gross annual sales and no more than 15 percent of the store’s space is devoted to the public display of wine.

Those stores may also apply for an in-store wine license to host wine tastings. The original ordinance limited tastings to twice a month, but council members are considering a change that allows businesses to host once a week tastings.

Along similar lines, Madison discussed specialty shops with council members, explaining to them that a “specialty” shop differs from a liquor or package store in that it requires stores to maintain a diverse selection of wine or beer.

“Package stores can carry what they want, but specialty shops must carry specialty wines,” he said.

The original ordinance says stores must carry 100 different varieties of wine and no less than 30 commercially available types of beer.

“100 seems a little excess from a town our size,” Madison said. “That could have a chilling effect on someone opening a wine shop.”

Chairman Kenny Thompson suggested taking out a specific number all together and Councilman Matt Broom mentioned lowering the required number to help businesses get started.

After deliberating, council members chose to drop the required wine variety to 50 and keep the “less than 30 commercially available” on beer.

One of the major concerns of “No” proponents before residents voted to bring alcohol into the city was that Hartselle would allow an entertainment district or open consumption area, much like that seen in places like New Orleans.

Madison shut those worries down at the meeting, saying that Hartselle isn’t going to have an Entertainment District, but can have a special events license.

In order to do this, the city must be zoned out so council members can determine where special events may be held.

Further on the topic of zoning laws, Thompson asked if church locations affected alcohol sale locations.

Madison said if a business is licensed to sell alcohol before a church is established, the business will not be affected, and if there is a 4-lane highway separating a church or school from a place selling alcohol, the alcohol-related business will not be affected.

Also, businesses in the Central Business District are not subject to zoning laws, and consumption can be either on or off the premise.

“Anywhere else, the distance from a church or school must be 500 feet from a liquor store and 300 feet from a convenience store,” Madison said.

Stores may advertise that they sell beverages, but can’t advertise a specific brand or common name outside the store.

“They can say ‘beverage’ or ‘package store’ but they can’t have names outside,” Madison said, adding that stores cannot advertise specific drinks in windows either. “Signage must be three feet away from the window.”

By the end of the meeting, Madison said he planned to review the proposed changes and get back to council members so they can approve the ordinance.

City Clerk Rita Lee told council members that even if they approved the ordinance now, businesses will not have time to obtain a license to sell by the holidays.

Meeting attendee Nathan Green addressed the board to ask that they set the rules regarding alcohol sales to help those who struggle with alcohol abuse.

“We ought to care for people enough to help them get home, or get kids home when (adults) are drinking,” he said.

Madison told him that the ordinance says no business can serve alcohol to someone visibly intoxicated.

“That’s about all we can do,” he said.