A battle is brewing yet again over Emory Village – this time over brewing, fermenting and distilling.

A property owner has said revitalization of the retail center at the edge of Emory University won't succeed unless DeKalb County waives a rule that would keep some properties from serving alcohol.

Residents in nearby Druid Hills, who unsuccessfully battled the project last year, say such a change would turn the area into a bar district.

For its part, the county must first figure out how to define a bar. No such designation exists in county zoning, which is complicating the question of who can serve alcohol in Emory Village and other mixed-use developments county-wide.

For instance, developers of a retail-housing development on Clifton Road have already asked about how the law applies to businesses on separate floors of their project.

"The truth is, DeKalb's ordinances are not very sophisticated when it comes to serving alcohol," said Jeff Rader, the area's county commission representative. "We never anticipated all these types of uses."

The plan for Emory Village calls for tearing down most of the one-story buildings in the shopping strip and replacing them with up to four floors of retail space and condominiums.

Stuart Meddin, co-chair of the non-profit Alliance to Improve Emory Village that pushed for the redevelopment, recently requested that DeKalb exempt all of those properties from an ordinance that does not allow distilled beverages to be served within 200 yards of a church or school.

With Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church nearby, that law restricts several properties in the center, including one that Meddin owns on North Decatur Road.

Meddin lost the liquor license to the restaurant when it closed several years ago. Besides for his own holding, he wants all other property owners in the area to have a chance at obtaining permission to sell alcohol.

"Looking at this long-term, restaurants are not going to survive in the village if they cannot serve a drink with dinner," Meddin said.

The Druid Hills Civic Association would support Meddin's property regaining its liquor license, but not other properties, said President Bruce MacGregor. The county ordinance as it now stands guarantees a balance of retailers, restaurants and bars in the project, he said.

"When you have a large university and a small retail area, it's not a stretch of the imagination that this could become a bar district," MacGregor said.

The civic association is to meet at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Glenn Memorial church education building to organize the opposition.

Rader, meanwhile, said he expects in the next month to come up with a new zoning ordinance that differentiates between places that serve alcohol. That may help find a middle ground between businesses and neighbors, just as happened in Decatur.

"Obviously, nightclubs and bars have a very different impact than restaurants," Rader said. "If you don't have a way to differentiate them, obviously you can see these issues building up."