The Douglas County Board of Commissioners (BOC) Tuesday approved a Sept. 15 referendum for voters to decide if they want Sunday liquor by the drink sales at restaurants in unincorporated county areas.

The vote was 4-1 on a motion by District 3 Commissioner Mike Mulcare and a second by District 1 Commissioner Freddie Ashmon Jr. District 4 Commissioner David Latham cast the sole negative vote.

The action came at the regular 10 a.m. BOC meeting in Citizens Hall at the county courthouse.

The interest in Sunday liquor sales is being spurred by a Hilton Garden Inn and conference center which plans to locate off Thornton Road and the Foxhall resort being built on Capps Ferry Road in the southeastern corner of the county.

The four commissioners voting in favor all cited the need for Sunday sales to attract better restaurants and convention business to the county. They said that without Sunday sales, restaurants will choose to be annexed into the city of Douglasville where Sunday sales are allowed.

“The issue is not if alcohol will be sold, but whether it will be controlled by the city or county,” Commission Chairman Tom Worthan said. “In order to run an establishment of that nature, you have to have Sunday beverage sales to compete with everybody else.”

In his comments, Mulcare emphasized that the issue involves more than just being against city annexation.

“It’s a quality of life factor,” he said. “Thus far, we’ve discouraged big box businesses (in District 3) in favor of the village center. Part of the village concept is sit down restaurants. Quality restaurants won’t locate where they can’t serve liquor on Sunday. This (referendum) will only permit alcohol sales in restaurants, not package stores.”

District 2 Commission Kelly Robinson said he’s in agreement with Mulcare.

“The whole hospitality industry depends on this ordinance,” Robinson said. “Citizens are always asking me why we can’t get better restaurants. All we’re trying to do is level the playing field. We’re still losing a lot of revenue to Cobb County and Atlanta. As a commissioner, I make decisions in the best interests of Douglas County.”

Latham said he is “totally against this” due to his Baptist beliefs.

“I think alcohol on Sunday is the wrong thing to do,” he said.

Ashmon said he is also a devout Baptist, often attending church six days per week as a child.

“I don’t want to see a lot of people have access to alcohol,” Ashmon said. “However, as a commissioner, I’m charged to make the county the best place it can be. I can’t go against it because I’m a Baptist. I can’t do the citizens like that. I make my decision as a commissioner.”

The BOC action authorizes a Sept. 15 “yes” or “no” vote on the question:

“Shall the governing authority of Douglas County, Georgia be authorized to permit and regulate Sunday sales of distilled spirits or alcoholic beverages for beverage purposes by the drink?”