Alcohol: A tale of two cities

Two and a half years ago, when Grovetown decided to allow the sale of alcohol in restaurants on Sundays, hopes for new development ran high.

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Reality has been disappointing.

"So far, it really hasn't enticed anybody new," Grovetown Mayor George James tells reporter Valerie Rowell. "We hoped it would."

City officials were crossing their fingers that Applebee's would bring a restaurant to the fine-dining-starved city. Instead, such new developments more likely will pop up at Lewiston Road and Interstate 20 - just outside Grovetown city limits.

In any event, full-service restaurants won't consider locating in an area without access to all options for beverage sales. But it's also true that having those options doesn't guarantee such businesses will flock to a community.

Just a few miles away, the city of Harlem is at a different crossroads. The little town's laws currently don't allow any on-premises consumption of alcohol. The owner of Bailey's Deli and Grill, wants to change that.

Stacie Caldwell-Hart says customers often ask for beer or wine, but she can't serve anything stronger than iced tea. She's asking officials to change city laws.

"I'm looking to be more welcoming to the people who do want to get a glass of wine with their dinner," Caldwell-Hart says.

Convenience and package stores in Harlem already sell beverages for off-premises consumption, so restaurant sales wouldn't seem to be much of a hurdle.

For those with religious objections, it's instructive that just this past week the director of Georgia's Christian Coalition voiced neutrality on an issue involving Sunday alcohol sales at a new Gwinnett County stadium.

The director, Jim Beck, points out that those who sell individual drinks have an interest "in not overserving" patrons; those selling alcohol for consumption elsewhere have no such interest.

Grovetown hasn't hit the dining jackpot just yet, but that shouldn't stop Harlem. Its proposal isn't speculative; it would build business for an existing restaurant.

Help there clearly is needed. The Evans area is booming, while the area south of I-20 in struggling to attract new development. In this case, they're on the right track to helping themselves.