Sunday Sales Allowed Immediately Following Wednesday Vote Of Watkinsville City Council

Watkinsville restaurants and convenience stores can sell alcohol on Sunday as a result of a change in the city’s code approved at a special called meeting of the City Council on Wednesday evening.

By a vote of 4-1, the Council inserted language into its Distilled Spirits Ordinance setting hours on Sunday during which alcohol can be served at restaurants and can be sold at package stores.

The previous ordinance for restaurants said that “No licensee shall furnish or serve alcohol at any of the following times: At any time on Sunday.”

The new ordinance says that “No licensee shall furnish or serve alcohol at any of the following times: At any time on Sunday before 12:30 p.m. or after 10 p.m.”

The previous ordinance had stated that no package alcohol license holder could “Furnish, sell or offer for sale any alcohol on Sundays or on Christmas Day.”

The Council simply changed the law to say no license holder could “Furnish, sell or offer for sale any alcohol before 12:30 p.m. on Sundays or after 11 p.m. on Sundays, or on Christmas Day.”

For more on the story, including a comparison of city and county alcohol sales hours, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: Mayor Charles Ivie, City Clerk Julie Sanders.