Marietta Mayor Bill Dunaway has opened talks about an earlier closing for bars, nightclubs and restaurants that serve alcohol.

The mayor has proposed changing the time last drinks can be served from 2:55 a.m. to 2 a.m. nightly except Sundays when those businesses must close at midnight.

Marietta City Council has discussed the proposal, but no action has been taken.

“There did not seem to be any interest in going further from the majority of the council,” said council member Philip Goldstein.

Marietta has 17 bars and 48 restaurants that serve alcohol.

Mayor Dunaway said his interest is in preventing late-night clubs from locating in Marietta.

“This is not one of those things that there is an immediate and pressing need for,” the mayor said.

“I see no reason to serve until 3 o’clock in the morning. I’m trying to prevent a problem,” he said. “If someone is planning to open up a late night place in Marietta, if they can only be open until 2 o’clock they may go someplace else. That suits me just fine. It’s better to prevent a problem than cure a problem.”

Goldstein questioned the need for a change. “If you’ve got a business that is not following the code, you enforce the code and make them conform to the code. You don’t penalize businesses that are following the code,” he said.

Neighboring cities call for last drinks to be served around the same time. In Kennesaw and Acworth, it is 2:55 a.m. Businesses serving alcohol in unincorporated Cobb County and Smyrna must serve last drinks by 2 a.m. weeknights, 2:55 a.m. on Saturday nights and midnight on Sundays.

Elsewhere in the metro area, for example, in Decatur the last drinks must be served by 3:55 a.m. on weekdays and at 2:55 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. In Alpharetta it’s 2 a.m. daily, and in Lawrencevile it’s 1:55 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays and midnight on Sundays