High Springs residents expressed their support to amend the city’s alcohol ordinance to allow the sale of alcohol at breweries on Sundays.
Residents shared their views on the subject during a hearing regarding amendments to the Unified Land Development Code and small-scale alcoholic beverage production facilities at the Alachua County Commission meeting Wednesday.
The code’s amendments, which will soon be heard by the Alachua County Land Development Committee to ensure consistency with the Alachua County Comprehensive Plan, are related to alcohol production and related merchandise in unincorporated Alachua County. The amendments will come before the Board of County Commissioners for approval.
The code does not affect individual municipalities’ ordinances regarding alcohol sales and production.
Residents of High Springs spoke during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting to share how alcohol ordinances on Sundays affect their businesses.
Current alcohol laws in High Springs allow businesses receiving at least 51% of revenue from food and non-alcoholic beverage sales to serve alcohol Monday-Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. On Sundays, alcohol can’t be served until 1 p.m. and alcoholic beverage service ends at 11 p.m.
Businesses receiving less than 51% of revenue from food and non-alcoholic beverage sales are allowed to serve alcohol Monday-Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. On Sundays, alcoholic beverages cannot be served until 6 p.m. and sales can continue until 2 a.m.
Businesses only selling alcohol are not allowed to open on Sundays.
Julie Smith, the owner of the Facebook group What’s Happening High Springs, urged commissioners to consider the impact High Springs’ alcohol ordinance has on businesses. She said the High Springs Brewing Company and the city’s local economy is missing out due to a “one-day weekend.”
It also looks bad for the brewery, Smith said, when Visit Gainesville advertises High Springs Brewing Company as a tourist destination, but it’s closed for half the weekend.
High Springs is home to many freshwater springs along the Santa Fe River, including Blue Springs, Poe Springs and the popular tourist attraction, Ginnie Springs. After a day at the springs, tourists often visit the High Springs Brewing Company. Because the brewery does not sell food, it is not allowed to be open on Sundays, which Smith refers to as a lack of separation between religion and politics in the High Springs City Commission.
“How can we get people, when they come to a UF game, to go up to High Springs? Well, guess what? You can go paddle boarding on Sunday morning, but you can’t stay and have a beer,” she said. “But you can go to Great Outdoors, have seven shots of tequila and order food.”
The alcohol ordinances affect more than just local businesses profits, said Smith. It affects efforts to sell High Springs as a visitor destination and stimulate the local economy.
If customers can’t buy a drink, they will go to other municipalities, Smith said. She said she wants High Springs alcohol laws to mirror that of other municipalities in Alachua County that are allowed to open on Sundays without serving food.
Kelly Potter, the owner of Prohibition Pizza, said her business is affected by the city’s alcohol ordinance. Located across from High Springs Brewing Company, which does not sell food, the pizza joint attracts many of the same customers. On the menu, it offers an item called “The Blind Pig,” which is a specialty pizza that is served with a token for a free beer at High Springs Brewing Company.
“I cannot sell High Springs Brewery beer in my restaurant,” she said. “It’s illegal to do so at this time.”
She asked commissioners whether breweries would be allowed to distribute. And she wondered whether the amendment to the county Unified Land Development Code supersedes city codes.
“Within the municipality, the municipality rules,” said Commissioner Ken Cornell.
In Florida, counties with a Home Rule charter, like Alachua County, allow cities to make their own ordinances.
“I hear all of your concerns,” he said. “Unfortunately we are not the city commission, but we can certainly put whatever pressure this commission wants us to put on them. I’m for economic development and ecotourism.”
The issue of alcohol ordinances is on the commission’s agenda for the joint meeting with High Springs on June 5, Commissioner Anna Prizzia said, but “this is not our issue right now.”
Chris Dawson, principal planner for county development services, reiterated that the amendments only affect unincorporated areas of Alachua County.
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