Columbia County’s track record of enforcing alcohol ordinance

EVANS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - We’re digging deeper into how Columbia County picks and chooses who they investigate for alcohol ordinance violations.

It’s a topic people have been buzzing about since Stay Social Tap and Table lost their right to serve alcohol. New emails and documents show the same process the county took to investigate Stay Social may not be the same across the board.

Restaurants in Columbia County have strict guidelines to be able to serve alcohol.

“If you violate any of these rules, then you can’t hold an alcohol license in Columbia County,” said County Manager Scott Johnson.

Johnson told us that in October. The ordinance has been put to the test recently. Stay Social had theirs revoked for not meeting at least 50% of food sales.

The Tavern on Belair License got suspended not revoked for the lack of a full-service kitchen in 2021. In this hearing, Johnson raised concern about the use of the term ‘bar’ in social media ments.

On Oct. 17 an email was sent to commissioners asking them to look into Suite 10 Restaurant and Bar for how their social media s their business.

In the same email, they claim the Ironwood Tavern has a sign saying the kitchen closes an hour before close, citing the ordinance asking for this to be looked into as well.

According to Johnson, anything sent to the county could be investigated.

Now almost two months later after asking for any alcohol violations or investigations for either place, There were no responsive documents.

With violations, Commissioner Connie Melear emailing a citizen says: “We take the licensing of controlled substances very seriously and as stewards of public trust, we cannot knowingly allow businesses to operate outside the county’s laws.”

Johnson says if you do want to file a formal complaint with code enforcement, call 311 or reach out to code enforcement directly.

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