Dalton City Council Approves Alcohol Home Deliveries
Chattanooga Neighbor City Is Now Allowing Home Delivery Of Alcohol With The Aim Of Giving Some Dalton City Businesses An Edge During The Pandemic. But, Is Alcohol Delivery Actually Safer Than In-Person Sales?
Dalton, GA – The Dalton City Council voted 4-0 on Tuesday to allow some licensed businesses to deliver packaged alcohol to homes within City limits.
Businesses have been struggling during the pandemic, and it gives those with alcoholic beverage licenses in Dalton an edge in the market.
“The situation with COVID-19 has hurt a lot of businesses and forced them to change the way they do things,” said City Council member Gary Crews.
“A lot of supermarkets and restaurants now have curbside pickup for customers who maybe don’t want to come inside. This is just an extension of that. We want to be a business-friendly city and make it easier for our businesses to do business.”
HB 879 that was signed by Governor Kemp in August paved the way for this City Council approval of alcohol deliveries.
The bill allows local governments to permit such deliveries, and the bill was expedited this year to aid consumers and businesses during the pandemic.
“I think this will be sweeping across Georgia and we don’t want to be at a competitive disadvantage to other communities around us” said Dalton Mayor David Pennington.
The alcohol deliveries must consist of unopened products that have been sealed by the manufacturer.
Therefore, this provision doesn’t extend to bars and breweries that sell drinks in open form.
The delivery drivers must be 21 or older, and the police department will be doing compliance checks just as they do with other establishments to curb underage alcohol sales.
“We do those checks when we get calls from concerned citizens who say they think underage persons are purchasing from those places,” said Dalton Police Chief Cliff Cason.
“If we get a call about one of the firms delivering these beverages, we will check it out.”
Some people may be trying to stay home and avoid going into tight buildings, so the delivery service could prove to be effective and in demand for the City of Dalton.
