Two Businesses Qualify for Package Store Licences in Loganville

Following an appeal hearing on four of the applications, officials with the city of Loganville announced Thursday that since only two applications for package stores licenses in the city, a lottery would not be necessary.

Only one application in Gwinnett County and one in Walton County met all the requirements of the license. The applicants were subsequently notified at the end of the hearing that their applications were successful. One contingent however, is the fact that the three applicants who had appeals denied still have 30 days to appeal those denials to the superior court of the relevant county - two were in Walton County and one was in Gwinnett County.

Applications awarded were as follows:

In Walton County

Ronald R Camp - Camp Family Partnership, 4515 Atlanta Highway - Parcel 1

In Gwinnett County

Highway 78 Real Estate LLC on Property at 330 Athens Highway, Loganville

Initially the application from Highway 78 Real Estate LLC was denied. It was, however, the only one that was overturned on appeal. The application was submitted by Douglas ford and his father, Richard Ford. They were happy to get the news at the end of the hearing.

"Wow," Richard Ford said. "Wow."

"We are very happy - it has been a long process," Douglas Ford said. "This has been two years in the making."

The Fords originally started the process last year with a petition to get the issue on the ballot. they had to go through the process of getting the application in and approved. The initial application was denied based on the number of parking spaces - it came up six short. The denial, however, was overturned based on the fact that there appeared to be a misinterpretation on what qualified as retail sales space and what qualified as warehouse space. Highway 78 LLC application had counted the mezzanine floor space as warehouse space and calculated parking spaces accordingly. Since it was a misinterpretation, and the applicant could show that the application could qualify under the city's interpretation, the appeal was successful. Attorney Rob Kaiser showed that, when configured under the city's interpretation, there was sufficient space for the parking requirements.

The only other Gwinnett County application, by Ronald D. Harrison, Sr./DHVW, LLC also was denied initially. In that case the denial was upheld on the appeal. It was based on the fact that the original application was outside the boundaries of the required proximity to a church. The Loganville City Council voted Thursday to uphold that denial. Councilman Skip Baliles was the one dissenting vote on the issue. The applicant, however, does have 30 days to appeal to the Superior Court in Gwinnett County.

The successful application in Walton County by Ronald R Camp is for property adjacent to the Loganville American Legion on Highway 78. That application was verbally awarded at the end of the hearing as well. It too, however, is contingent on a possible appeal by an application by Buddy Balance for property on Highway 78 close to Kroger in Walton County as well as a second property that the Camp Family Partnership had filed. Both those denials were upheld.

Should there be no appeals filed to the relevant superior court within the 30 day period, the winners will each pay $4,500 for the license and be able to proceed. Loganville City Attorney Karen Woodward, who represented the city council during the hearings, said she would be looking into whether the successful applicants could go ahead and proceed in the meantime.

The name of the package store on the Walton County application is Beverage Store of Loganville. The Gwinnett County applications lists the name as Legacy Beverage Center.


See Also:

Loganville Package Store Applications Now Posted on Properties

One Loganville Package Store Application Qualifies