If David Hobson can't buy a can of beer in Loganville on Sunday after November, he'll probably have more than a few options.
Hobson might drive a few miles west to Snellville. Just up the road, there's a couple of convenience stores in Grayson. He might be able to quench that thirst in Lawrenceville.
"But I'd rather stay here," Hobson said recently at the Race Trac on Highway 78 in Loganville.
Either way, Hobson and other Gwinnett residents will soon have choices. With Grayson City Council's vote last week, 13 of the county's 15 cities will hold November referendums on Sunday alcohol sales. The thirst – and tolerance – for more alcohol sales seems to be particularly high in Gwinnett, where authorities across Georgia's second-largest county are trying to lure more businesses and keep young people and their money in town on the weekends.
And with Election Day a little more than two months away, city officials and other interested observers insist organized opposition to alcohol sales has been notably silent since Gov. Nathan Deal signed the bill permitting local communities to hold these referendums.
"We haven’t heard of anything," Grayson Mayor Jim Hinkle said. "I guess people just kind of accept it now."
That seems at least partially true, as some of the more prominent opponents appear resigned to suffering some losses.
"It's been really difficult to fight," said Jerry Luquire, president of the Georgia Christian Coalition.
The fight has been particularly difficult in Gwinnett, where Loganville’s city council was the first in metro Atlanta to vote for a referendum. Council members there approved a proposal April 18 to let residents decide whether to allow Sunday sales, 10 days before Gov. Nathan Deal signed the bill that let local communities decide.
"It never dawned on me that we were the first until it happened," Loganville Mayor Ray Nunley said. "But why would we wait? We responded more to what our business community wants."
With that in mind, more Gwinnett cities followed the lead of Loganville: Lilburn, Suwanee, Auburn and Braselton. Lawrenceville, the county's largest city, was one of the last to pass a similar resolution earlier this month.
"We didn't want to put our businesses that serve alcoholic beverages at a disadvantage," said Lilburn City Manager Bill Johnsa. "We've seen municipalities in the county vote for referendums and it was important to keep pace with them."
The only remaining holdouts in Gwinnett are Buford and Rest Haven, the smallest of the county's towns with about 150 residents. Rest Haven also boasts a prohibition against alcohol sales that has been on the books since its founding in 1938.
Meanwhile, Buford Mayor Phillip Beard left open the possibility that the city commission could take up the issue sometime this fall.
"We'll eventually deal with it," Beard said. "But it hasn't been an issue here. We haven't had anyone bring it up to us."
At the county level, Gwinnett County Commission Chairwoman Charlotte Nash said the commission probably will not call for a vote in November. Nash said she wouldn’t want the liquor vote to adversely affect the school system’s sales tax vote already scheduled for November. However, she said, Gwinnett could schedule an alcohol sales vote for next March’s presidential primary.
In recent months, Gwinnett cities have shown a willingness to loosen the restriction on alcohol laws to drive economic growth. And to keep up with their neighbors.
In February, Snellville approved an ordinance that allows for the sale of alcohol at special events, what some officials have dubbed "beer gardens." To lure folks to its urban center, Grayson amended its liquor laws to allow for a beer festival in September. To attract new restaurants to its downtown, Duluth in October 2010 adopted an ordinance to expand the boundaries where beer and wine can be sold during city-sanctioned events.
Duluth Economic Development Manager Chris McGahee said it was part of a comprehensive plan that he credits with filling up once-abandoned storefronts in the city's historic downtown district.
"It just gives businesses another opportunity to make additional sales," McGahee said. "In the economy we’re dealing with, any little bit does help."
To that point, studies done by Drexel University economics professor Mark Stehr show that Sunday alcohol sales would have minimal benefit to retailers. According to Stehr's study, other states that repealed their Sunday ban saw a 2.8 percent bump for liquor sales and a 2.3 percent increase for beer.
Of course, most -- if not all -- local retailers are still clamoring for Sunday sales.
"Sunday is our busiest day," said Lorena Martinez, manager of the Super Mercado Jalisco in Norcross. "A lot of people try to buy and pretend that they don't know it's Sunday. We get a lot of that."
Back at the Race Trac in Loganville, store manager Derrick Cain had similar stories. "We lose a lot of sales. It's something we've talked about for years."
But with most city officials and residents touting the economic benefits, some of the opponents are hopeful that voters will ultimately put aside their economic concerns in favor of safety ones.
"Everybody is sticking their head in the sand," said Robert Jenkins, a Snellville resident who as a former city council member joined a group of eight residents in a lawsuit against the city over Sunday alcohol sales. "Those that support making alcohol more available, they are not protecting and serving the public."
Staff writer David Wickert contributed to this report.
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