Good Hope alcohol review committee will hold first meeting this week

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September 26, 2012

Good Hope alcohol review committee will hold first meeting this week

By Benjamin Bullard The Cullman Times The Cullman Times Wed Sep 26, 2012, 11:20 AM CDT

GOOD HOPE — The city’s newly-formed alcohol review committee (ARC) will hold its first meeting this week, and already there are business owners lining up to learn what they must do to ensure they’ll be able among the first to receive licenses to sell alcohol in the city.

The ARC, which the city council created at its last regular meeting to assist in reviewing applications for liquor licenses, meets Thursday at 6 p.m. In addition to electing officers and reviewing the bylaws the council had previously adopted for the committee, its members will take up at least two applications that have already been submitted at city hall.

“We’ve had two applications so far, both for off-premises beverage sales,” said Mayor Corey Harbison Monday. “One of those is from an existing business here in Good Hope, and the other is from an existing business that has a location outside of Good Hope.”

While the ARC cannot grant or deny an application for a liquor license, the committee does report to the city council on whether an applicant meets criteria set forth in Good Hope’s municipal alcohol ordinance. Once an application package is complete, the ARC reviews the applicant and makes a final recommendation to the city council, which will vote on whether to grant the license. The Alabama Beverage Control board conducts background checks as part of an applicant’s request for a Good Hope liquor license.

The five-member body consists of the mayor, city clerk, planning commission president and two at-large local representatives appointed by the city council.

Good Hope voters approved legal alcohol sales in a special referendum last month, two years after residents had voted the measure down in the city’s first ever wet/dry referendum, held shortly after a change in state law opened the way for smaller cities and towns to decide the issue for themselves. The city council had adopted an alcohol ordinance ahead of the 2010 vote, and tweaked the document further at its Sept. 10 meeting in preparation for its first wave of liquor license applications.

A copy of the alcohol ordinance, along with other information pertaining to alcohol sales in Good Hope, is available online at www.goodhopeal.com/alcohol.html.

* Benjamin Bullard can be reached by e-mail at bbullard@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 270.

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Good Hope alcohol review committee will hold first meeting this week

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