Athens City Code

1. (1) Certain devices and non-employee seating forbidden. No pool tables, televisions for viewing by customers, pinball machines, arcade gaming devices, including video games, jukeboxes or similar devices shall be permitted in any liquor store. No seating facilities, other than for employees of the liquor store, shall be permitted in any liquor store.
2. (2) Time and days of operation. No liquor store shall sell or give away any alcoholic beverage between 11:00 p.m. on Saturday and 8:00 a.m. on Monday of each week (no Sunday sales). No liquor store shall sell, give away, or otherwise dispense alcoholic beverages except between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. on Monday through Saturday. The store may not be open to the general public except during regular business hours. No liquor store shall be open for business on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Labor Day, or the Fourth of July.
3. (3) Selling or furnishing to persons below the age of 21 years, etc. It is unlawful for any licensee to sell, furnish or give away any alcoholic beverage to a person below the age of 21 years, to a person visibly intoxicated, or to any person accompanied by a person who is visibly intoxicated. It is unlawful for any person under the age of 21 years or a person who is visibly intoxicated to enter or remain in a liquor store or to loiter in the immediate vicinity of a liquor store. Employees with appropriate employee permits issued pursuant to state law who are age 18 years and older are permitted in a liquor store for the purpose of engaging in paid employment only. It is unlawful for a person below the age of 21 years to misrepresent his or her age in an attempt to gain admission to a liquor store or in an attempt to buy any alcoholic beverage from a licensee. Any person selling alcoholic beverages within the city shall be required to have produced to the person selling the alcoholic beverages a facially valid government-issued identification showing that the age of the prospective purchaser of the alcoholic beverage is 21 years of age or older. If such identification is not produced by the prospective purchaser, the alcoholic beverage shall not be sold. Such identification shall be required prior to the sale of alcoholic beverages, regardless of the apparent age of the prospective purchaser.
4. (4) Consumption on premises of liquor store. It is unlawful for any licensee to sell any alcoholic beverage for consumption in such licensee's liquor store or on the premises used by the licensee in connection therewith. It is unlawful for any person who is not an employee of the liquor store to consume any alcoholic beverage in the liquor store or in the immediate vicinity of the liquor store. Any consumption of an alcoholic beverage by an employee shall be limited solely to the circumstances permitted and set forth in the rules of the state alcoholic beverage commission and any applicable federal law.
5. (5) Advertising. There shall be no advertising signs of any kind whatsoever outside the building containing a liquor store, either for the liquor store or to advertise any matter pertaining to alcoholic beverages sold at liquor stores, except as set forth herein. There may be placed on the front of a liquor store, but not extending therefrom over 12 inches, a sign setting out the name of the liquor store. Such sign shall not exceed 20 square feet in dimension. No such sign shall contain letters of neon or tube lighting so as to produce lighting within letters. No reader board or changeable copy signs shall be permitted. One freestanding sign shall be allowed on the premises not to exceed 144 square feet. No off-premises signs related to a liquor store shall be allowed within the city. No banner or temporary or permanent sign or other material shall be placed on or inside a liquor store so that it obstructs free and clear vision of the interior of the liquor store from outside of the liquor store. The foregoing notwithstanding, one banner advertising the grand opening of the liquor store shall be permitted for up to two weeks when a liquor store is first opened for business, provided a sign permit for such banner is obtained from the city. In addition, all liquor store signage shall be subject to applicable zoning, building, and safety regulations, as adopted within this Code, unless specifically stated otherwise herein.
6. (6) Off-premises business. All retail sales of alcoholic beverages shall be confined to the premises of the liquor store. No curb service is permitted, nor shall drive-in window service be permitted. A licensee shall not deliver or cause to be delivered any alcoholic beverage from the store premises to the residence or place of business of a consumer. No licensee shall employ any canvasser, agent, solicitor or other representative for the purpose of receiving an order from a consumer for any alcoholic beverages at the residence or place of business of such consumer nor shall any such licensee receive or accept any such order which shall have been solicited and received at the residence or place of business of such consumer. This subsection shall not be construed as to prohibit the solicitation by a state licensed wholesaler of any order from any licensed retailer at the licensed premises.

(Ord. No. 1035, § 1(8-207), 3-17-2015)