Duluth eliminates 50-yard limit for businesses selling beer, wine

Dig deep enough into many long-standing city codes and you’ll find rules that no longer make any sense. One such code in Duluth required a 50-yard distance between a new package store and any other business licensed to sell packaged malt beverages and wine, unless one of them was a hotel.

With downtown Duluth’s construction nearing completion and a new brew pub and restaurants opening soon, the city has cleaned up city code to avoid any unnecessary restrictions.

Since state law doesn’t prohibit it, the Duluth City Council voted recently to amend the ordinance eliminating the 50-yard distance requirement as well as several other small amendments related to definitions and restrictions for brew pubs and growler sales.