Demorest Council Makes Alcoholic-Beverage Ordinance Permanent

The Demorest City Council unanimously approved a change to make the city’s alcoholic-beverage ordinance permanent at its April 3, 2025, meeting, removing the date frame in subsection (1). The vote followed a first reading two days earlier, when council members began the formal amendment process after discussing the change in a work session.

The action matters because the ending point of an ordinance determines how long its rules remain in force. By deleting the date frame, the council removed the provision that had limited the ordinance’s duration. The meeting records, however, do not describe the underlying alcohol rules or spell out practical effects for businesses, residents or alcohol sales.

Council first addressed the proposed change during a work session leading into its April 1 regular meeting. Mayor Harkness invited public comment before the first reading, but no one spoke for or against it. That first-reading step set up the April 3 action, when a motion and second brought the narrower amendment—removing subsection (1)’s date frame—to a unanimous approval.

Council members supported the change unanimously on April 3. No resident, business owner or other speaker took a public position during the April 1 comment opportunity, according to the minutes. The records do not preserve a debate explaining individual members’ reasons, nor do they identify organized opposition or support beyond the council vote.

The permanent change is an approved council action, not merely a proposal: the April 3 minutes record unanimous approval to remove the date frame. Still, the records cited here do not include the revised ordinance text, an effective date or details about which alcohol-related requirements the ordinance contains. Those omissions limit what can be concluded about implementation and day-to-day impact.

The immediate public decision appears complete with the April 3 unanimous vote. The remaining questions are administrative and practical: when the amended language took effect, what exact provisions it governs, and how the city will apply them. A published amended ordinance or later council record would clarify those details.