Canton Mayor Withdraws Alcohol Ordinance Veto

CANTON, GA -- Canton Mayor Gene Hobgood has rescinded his rejection of changes to the city's alcohol ordinance that would allow a growler business in the historic downtown district to sell beer and wine by the drink.

Hobgood withdrew the veto, which was issued July 29, that would allow retail package stores -- namely, Stout's Growlers -- to offer on-site consumption to its customers.

The mayor backtracked on the veto on the condition that the City Council direct staff to come back with changes to the ordinance that would remove the restriction of growler stores being limited to the downtown district and to create a committee to review the ordinance. Council members unanimously agreed to those terms and Hobgood signed the ordinance at the Aug. 3 called meeting.

City Manager Billy Peppers said he expects to have a draft ordinance removing the historic downtown district requirement before the Council at its Aug. 17 meeting. He notes the review of the alcohol code could be completed before the end of 2017 (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app).

Mayor Hobgood said Thursday's solution was part of the city "making the best of the situation." Going forward, the main focus for the city should be revamping its alcohol ordinance, "which has many problems in it," he added.

The request, which was put forth by Stout's Growlers, had been debated for months by city leaders. In his veto, Hobgood questioned whether it made sense to have food requirements for restaurants that sell alcohol by the drink, but not for stores such as Stouts. The mayor said Stout's argued that the establishment was not a bar, but was a place where people can have "conversations" over a beer or glass of wine.

"Well, that's sort of like a bar," he added. "The question I wanted to ask was to make sure that was the direction the Council was moving in."

Hobgood also said he didn't think allowing growlers to set up shop only in the historic downtown district was fair, and removing that stipulation is a step in the right direction of making the city's ordinance fair.

Jim O'Leary, one of Stout's co-owners, said he was grateful to the city moving forward with allowing the business to pour on-site.

"We are very happy with the resolution and that the mayor rescinded his veto," he added.

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