Suwanee Plans Vote on Sunday Alcohol Sales

Suwanee residents likely will be able to vote in November on whether to allow packaged alcohol sales on Sundays in the city limits.

The mayor and council members Thursday supported the idea of a public vote on Georgia's new law, which goes into effect July 1. Formal council approval still is required, and considered certain; it likely would come at the May 24 City Council meeting.

"We're happy to do this," Mayor Dave Williams said at a council work session Thursday. He added that Suwanee voters generally have passed all major issues put before them, referring to the Open Space Initiative in 2001 that led to development of the city's signature parks system.

Suwanee will be holding a municipal election on Nov. 8, with the mayor and some council posts on the ballot. So the city can hold the referendum then more cost effectively than if it waited until 2012.

Also, there has been some discussion that if Suwanee did not put the matter to a public vote, it would be at a disadvantage to nearby cities that did opt to allow Sunday sales.

Georgia's new law leaves Indiana and Connecticut as the only two states that do not permit Sunday alcohol sales by retail stores for off-premises consumption.