Goal: Sunday beer at new ballpark

With opening day at the new minor league ballpark less than a month away, Gwinnett County officials still are scrambling to make sure fans who attend Sunday games can have a beer with their hot dog.

The County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday for two measures designed to help make that happen at the new home of the Gwinnett Braves.

The first is a request to the state Department of Community Affairs to certify the stadium, an adjacent mixed-use development and the county’s convention center and arena in Duluth under an economic development program that allows Sunday sales for qualified projects.

The other strategy is an amendment to the county’s alcohol-sales law that would allow Sunday sales so long as at least half of the stadium’s food and beverage sales come from food.

No matter which method ends up being used, the stadium will be selling beer when the Braves host their first home opener on April 17, said David O’Kelley, licensing and revenue manager for the county’s Department of Finance.

County and state rules already allow Sunday sales at restaurants and similar establishments that are primarily in the business of selling food, not booze.

The county’s Arena at Gwinnett Center has operated under that provision for years, O’Kelley said.

The county still holds slim hope that the General Assembly will approve a bill allowing the county to issue an alcohol permit to the stadium, according to O’Kelley.

Such authority is granted to cities, but not counties, in state law.

O’Kelley said county officials expect to meet with DCA staff next week about the other option, the economic development designation.