City Council apparently decides that there might be too many liquor stores

There currently are more than a dozen liquor stores in Milledgeville/Baldwin County, one for every 3,000 people.

Two new liquor stores already have opened in 2024, one across from the Kroger shopping center and one bordering the Oconee River Greenway.

Apparently, the Milledgeville City Council has decided to press pause, earlier this month voting unanimously to approve a 90-day moratorium on new alcohol licenses. The moratorium only applies to "new" applications and will not impact "renewals."

"There are some things that we need to look at in our current alcohol ordinance that could make some fairly substantial changes," City Manager recently told WMAZ/Channel 13 reporter Jessica Cha. "We're beginning to get a lot of those stores very close to one another. Oftentimes, those types of businesses cause harm to the neighborhood."

The moratorium reportedly also is in response to the growing number of "food stores" and "tobacco stores" that basically act as fronts for digital slot machines, otherwise known as coin-operated amusement machines (COAMs). The only laundromat on the south side of town more recently was converted into a "tobacco store."

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