Before liquor stores may open in Ringgold and Fort Oglethorpe following voters' approval of a referendum Tuesday, the cities must add ordinances outlining the rules and regulations for such businesses to the city code.
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Forth Oglethorpe City Manager Molly Huhn said the city has already started receiving calls from folks who are interested in applying for a license for their business.
"We've had people call and ask when they can start operating the stores already," she said by phone on Friday. "I've had to tell them they can't just yet. There's a few more things we need to take care of, but we're drafting those ordinances now. We'll work diligently to make sure it's the right fit for our community."
Huhn said the city is in the "very early stages" of determining what it would like to see in the ordinance. She did not have a timeline for when a draft of such an ordinance might be ready.
"The city attorney is researching what other jurisdictions have done that has worked so we can figure out what our ordinances will look like. As with all ordinances, they'll go before the public and before the council to vote on. We want feedback," she said.
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Some voters, like Fort Oglethorpe resident Brooke Gibson, said they thought allowing liquor stores would help bring new business to the area.
Others, like Ringgold resident Kirsten Parker, said they were concerned about the impact liquor stores might have on the community. Parker said she was afraid the stores would attract problems that are seen more often in larger cities, such as violence.
Asked whether she was concerned about the stores drawing more violence to the area, Gibson said no.
"People can already drive over and get alcohol somewhere else if they want it," she said. "I don't think people are going to start acting any differently if it's here instead of there."
Huhn said the city is aware that some people are afraid of the effect liquor stores might have but said that is why taking time to research similar ordinances from similarly sized cities was so important.
"People want to know what we're doing, and I'm glad the public is involved. We're figuring out what's working now. We want it to be the right fit. There are blueprints for ordinances like this, but we want to tweak it to fit what's going on here in our community because every community is different," she said. "We want to think about the needs of the citizens before we bring it before council for a vote."
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The public will have the opportunity to speak to the city council about the ordinance three times, Huhn said, before a final vote is taken.
Neither Ringgold City Manager Mark Vaughn nor Mayor Nick Millwood returned calls related to the ordinance on Friday, but a discussion of the package store ordinance is listed on the agenda for Monday's city council meeting.
Contact Kelcey Caulder at kcaulder@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327. Follow her on Twitter @kelceycaulder.