An amendment that would allow for a microbrewery in downtown Flowery Branch got first reading approval from the city council Thursday.
Flowery Branch City Attorney Ron Bennett said city officials have received interest from a microbrewery that wanted to operate in the new downtown development on Main Street, but he said due to an oversight in the city's licensing ordinance, they couldn't allow it.
"A while back, the city amended its zoning code to allow for microbreweries as a land use within certain districts within the city, but for some reason, microbreweries were not added to the licensing ordinance," Bennett told the city council Thursday.
The city council approved the first reading of the amendment to that licensing ordinance unanimously. A second reading will need to be approved for the amendment to take effect. No one spoke for or against the item during the public comment portion of the meeting.
The Main Street building falls within the downtown dining district, which encompasses a roughly two-block area of the city and is one of the districts that allows for microbreweries as a land use. Bennett said the amendment also included wording that will allow for microbreweries in the downtown dining district to operate without needing to sell food.
He said that wording was included because the microbrewery that expressed interest in moving into the city wanted to operate without food sales.
