Royston adopts entertainment-district alcohol rules, but map awaits separate vote

Royston City Council unanimously adopted Ordinance 1006 on March 23, adding entertainment districts to the city’s alcohol-beverage rules but postponing the crucial question of where those districts will be. Councilman Fields moved for adoption, Councilman Hodges seconded, and the measure passed 6-0, according to the meeting minutes.

The vote gives Royston a legal framework for entertainment districts and addresses special-event temporary licenses, potentially shaping how alcohol-related activity is handled in public-facing event areas. But the ordinance directs the council to establish district boundaries later by resolution, so its real-world footprint remains unknown to residents, businesses and event organizers.

Council consideration began March 10, when Hodges moved to place Ordinance 1006 on first reading. On March 23, the council took up the second-reading step after a motion by Councilman McCollum, then proceeded to the adoption vote. That sequence moved the proposal from initial consideration into the city code, without documenting a companion action to draw the districts themselves.

For council members who backed the measure, the unanimous vote established the authority to create entertainment districts under the alcohol-beverage code. The record identifies Fields, Hodges and McCollum in their respective procedural roles, but it does not record debate, public comment or competing arguments about the ordinance. The people most directly affected by its eventual geography—including nearby residents, downtown businesses and special-event organizers—cannot yet tell whether a particular area will fall inside a district.

Adoption of Ordinance 1006 is complete: the council’s 6-0 vote amended Chapter 6 of Royston’s code to create entertainment districts. Boundary-setting, however, is still a proposal for future council action rather than a completed act. The minutes excerpt does not identify any district locations, set terms for a boundary resolution, or say when the council will consider one.

The next concrete public decision is a City Council resolution defining the boundaries of Royston’s entertainment districts. Until council considers and adopts that separate resolution, the geographic reach of the new alcohol-beverage framework—and the public areas affected by its entertainment-district and special-event temporary-license provisions—remains undecided.