Alpharetta Planning Commission: Spa Services, Liquor Store Get Thumbs Up
By Jamie Woodhead / STAFF
The Alpharetta Planning Commission met Thursday, June 4, to decide on recommendations on two issues for the Alpharetta City Council. The Public Hearing was an opportunity for the public to hear and respond to the proposed applications. Chairman Michael Tomy described the importance of the public hearing when he said that the issues “hit here first. It is the citizen’s opportunity to hear it here first.”
First on the agenda was the controversial issue of permitting a liquor store, Total Wine and More, in the North Point Mall area in the former CompUSA building. The zoning for the building allows alcohol, but the Master Plan did not specifically include it. A number of residents living in close proximity to the area sent e-mails in opposition to Total Wine and More. Many complained that the proposed location of the liquor store was too close to the mall, an attraction for children and teenagers.
The applicant, John Taylor, defended Total Wine and More by explaining that the store was not in the mall but instead across two parking lots and a very busy street. He also explained that the store is not a typical liquor store that sells chilled beverages and lottery tickets; it is a high-end specialty wine store. He went on to point out the store’s strict policy on selling to minors.
“People under 21 are not allowed into the store unless with a parent,” he said. “They are not allowed to buy anything, even a bottle of water. Also, there are incentives for the store’s sales associates to I.D. customers.” The associates receive 10 cents for every person they I.D., and they receive a $50 bonus for catching someone with a fake I.D.
John Wood of Red’s Package Store, located on South Main Street, spoke to the Planning Commission in opposition to Total Wine and More. He explained that there were numerous local liquor stores near the possible location of Total Wine and More that would be severely hurt by the new store. In one of the less formal moments of the meeting, many commission members including Nancy Bristol and Will Gurley said that they were Red’s customers and that it would be Total Wine and More that should be wary of Red’s.
Members of the commission had reservations about recommending Total Wine and More to the Council, but after some deliberation six members voted in favor of Total Wine and More with Francis Kung’u abstaining from voting.
The second item on the agenda was breezy compared to the first. Hand and Stone Spa, a massage therapy spa, requested to add “spa services” as a conditional use within the North Point Market Master Plan. The spa also requested to be located in the North Point shopping center between Old Navy and Linens and Things. The commission was unanimously in favor of permitting the spa.