Following the November passing of a referendum allowing package liquor sales, the city of Soddy-Daisy is in the process of establishing regulations relating to such sales.
The city passed an ordinance establishing regulations such as how many liquor stores there can be, how far they must be from each other and from churches, and rules for Sunday sales on first reading, and a second reading is planned for Dec. 4.
Mayor Rick Nunley and Vice Mayor Patti Skates voted against the ordinance on first reading.
Several commissioners took issue with the ordinance's regulation of limiting the number of liquor stores in the city to three but ultimately voted in favor of it.
"I believe the free-market system will take care of that," Commissioner Jim Adams said. "I really feel strongly about the democratic process of letting people compete with each other."
Commissioner Robert Cothran agreed.
"I think free enterprise, that's what the U.S. was built on and that's what we need to stick with," he said.
Skates pointed out that some cities of comparable size have only one liquor store.
Commissioners also discussed changing the required distance between liquor stores in the city from 500 feet to 300 feet. Since local outlets that sell only beer currently must be 500 feet apart, the law would need to be changed for the beer stores as well to avoid confusion, they said.
There will be a public comment period before the final vote on the ordinance. The commission meeting starts at 7 p.m. at City Hall.