The city of Powder Springs is now the fourth in Cobb County to allow patrons to carry drinks out of restaurants and bars and drink them while they walk in the downtown area.
The City Council on Monday approved the ordinance to allow patrons to consume drinks outside of businesses licensed for on-premise consumption within.
These visitors will only be allowed to sip and stroll within the city’s entertainment district. District boundaries are Jackson Way Extension to the north, Hotel Road to the south, Pineview Drive and Murray Avenue to the west, and Oak View Drive and Lewis Road to the east.
Drinks must be served in paper or plastic cups no larger than 16 ounces, and can only be served between 5 p.m. and midnight during the week and 11 a.m. and midnight on weekends. No one will be allowed to take out more than one cup of alcohol from an establishment at a time.
City Manager Pan Conner said the ordinance will go into effect five days after adoption.
Acworth, Kennesaw and Smyrna have similar ordinances in place. The city of Marietta, which rejected an open container proposal last year, is facing a revived debate on the topic, which could come before elected officials as early as the end of the month.
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Powder Springs Downtown Development Authority member Randy Hardy said he believed the City Council considered all angles of the proposal before giving the green light to the second reading, so he trusts its judgment on the matter.
Hardy went on to say that the idea of an entertainment district is an innovative way to attract people to downtown Powder Springs.
“People are looking for something to do in and around downtown, and haven’t had much to do in many, many years,” he said.
Hardy, whose company is in the midst of renovating the historic Country Store on Marietta Street, added the city as a whole is “pulling in the same direction” when it comes to implementing the vision it wants to see for the downtown area.
“Kudos to Mayor [Al] Thurman and the City Council for being the figure heads that are moving us in that direction as a whole,” he said.
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