Why Perry hit pause on new liquor store approvals

City officials say the moratorium gives Perry time to review zoning and placement rules.

PERRY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Anyone looking to open a liquor store in Perry will have to wait at least six months after the Perry City Council approved a temporary moratorium on issuing new liquor licenses.

Two weeks ago, the Perry City Council decided to place a six-month hold on approving new liquor stores in the city. Perry’s Community Development Director Joe Duffy says the time period is designed to give the city time to evaluate local ordinances and state regulations.

“There has not been a flood of applications for liquor stores, so it’s really not a reactionary activity of ours, but we don’t want there to be a flood of them, and that’s really the impetus for this,” Duffy said.

Perry currently has several liquor stores, with one business waiting for approval. Duffy says the city is not seeing an issue with substance abuse and wants to keep it that way.

“We’ve got five liquor stores in town right now, and we kind of want to be more particular about placement of them, and we don’t want to see a lot of liquor stores in close proximity,” he said.

While the moratorium is in place, Duffy says Perry respects business owners and stresses this is not meant to block growth.

“We’re a pro-business community, and we understand free-market enterprise, and we’re not seeking to obstruct that,” he said.

While Warner Robins does not currently have a moratorium in place, Warner Robins Mayor LaRhonda Patrick says the city is discussing and proposing stricter rules for liquor licenses.

“We don’t take this move lightly,” she said. “We are pro-business and support small businesses in our community, but we have been receiving many complaints from the community, and small business owners as well, about the number of liquor stores coming to our community and vape stores.”

Mayor Patrick says she has heard growing concerns from residents about the number of liquor stores in Warner Robins.

“When we start hearing from our community, all council members and myself included, it does make us pay attention,” she said. “It made us realize that we do need to take a step back, do our due diligence, and make sure we are planning out this growth properly without infringing on the free market. But we have to be responsible when it comes to planning in our city for liquor licenses and vape shops.”