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By Buzz Trexler

Star Correspondent

The Elizabethton City Council during Thursday night’s regular meeting passed on first reading an amendment to city ordinances that would allow the city to issue special event beer permits.

 

The Elizabethton Beverage Board has been granting “temporary permits” for special events on a case-by-case basis, even though the Elizabethton Municipal Code does not currently provide for special events and only addresses temporary permits for retailers who either have an existing permit or are filing for a new permit. The amended code includes a new section specifically providing for a “Special Event Beer Permit.”

 

The changes in the code include the following:

 

— each event is limited to two days;

 

— the number of special event permits is limited to six times a year, per applicant;

 

— the special event beer permit fee is set at $100 per application;

 

— special events are exempted from certain constraints in permit issuance; and

 

— a special event beer permit applicant must be a bona fide charitable, nonprofit, or political organization, or a company with a valid on-premise permit.

 

In December, the Beverage Board considered a special events request from Elizabethton/Carter County Chamber of Commerce Director Joy McCray who was seeking a permit for 12 monthly private events. She was granted a permit for the first four months of this year and was asked to return in April while the city explored correcting what Councilman Jeff Treadway called a “deficiency” in the regulations regarding temporary permits.

 

If passed on second reading after a public hearing, the new code will go into effect 10 days afterward.