The Oconee County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted Tuesday to amend the Alcoholic Beverages Ordinance distance requirement from any location to a school and/or church from 600 feet to 300 feet.
The change follows the county’s decision to deny renewing Costa Alegre Seafood and Grill’s liquor license. The new amendment will allow the distance requirement from a school and/or church to be the same for liquor, beer and wine, and the restaurant in Butler’s Crossing will be able to retain its license.
“The point is not that a small business like us is being abused or nothing like that,” Rudy Rodriguez, whose family owns Costa Alegre Seafood and Grill, told commissioners during public comment. “On the contrary, we wanted to be clear that a business like us can exist and can thrive due to the assistance of people like them.”
The amendment specifies that minimum distances are to be measured from the front door of the establishment that offers alcoholic beverages to the nearest public sidewalk, walkway or road in a straight line and following the route in a legally permissible manner to the front door of the other building or nearest portion of the grounds.
Costa Alegre Seafood and Grill was purchased in 2023 and was granted a license to sell liquor by Oconee County, but would have been unable to sell liquor beginning in 2026 based on the more restrictive interpretation of the law.
“We are genuinely worried about how this decision will impact our business,” the Watkinsville restaurant said Monday in an Instagram post.
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The restaurant also said in the post that it was hurt most by the lack of transparency and communication by the local government in the community the owners have lived in for decades.
Rodriguez said good margaritas are key to a Mexican restaurant.
“It’s a big revenue for us — the margaritas and some of the liquor,” Rodriguez said in an interview.
Without the sale of liquor, Rodriguez said, “We would have closed.”
Ramon Funes, brother of Alejandro Tamez, the owner of Tamez Barbeque, said liquor sales will be a necessary addition of revenue in order to pay rent once they obtain a license.
“We have people walk out of our business, a whole group of people, because we don’t sell beer or any alcohol,” Funes said. “But hopefully, all that will change now.”
Mark Thomas, Post 2 commissioner, said he voted for the amendment because of the state law and the detrimental impact the previous interpretation of the law would have on local businesses.
“Our ordinances are really based on the state law and so, if the state law allows it, then we allow it,” Thomas said. “That’s the reason I voted for it because, you know, I feel like it would impact two businesses very severely and then, it’s allowed by the state.”
Gracie Edwards is a journalism major in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.
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