Last call in Athens set at 11:30 p.m. after bars, officials settle lawsuit

Last call for alcohol will be 11:30 p.m. in Athens bars, and patrons must clear out by midnight under a settlement between the Athens-Clarke County government and six bar owners. The bar owners sued the government last month after the mayor and commission approved an ordinance moving last call to 10 p.m. last month.

Lawyers for the government and the bars were scheduled to argue the case in a 9:30 a.m. hearing Friday before Western Circuit Superior Court Judge Eric Norris, but instead announced a settlement had been reached after working into the previous night.

Kevin Epps, a lawyer for the bars, told Norris in the courtroom Friday that the plaintiffs filed papers that morning asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it won’t be revived.

The Athens-Clarke Commission approved the settlement and a new version of the emergency ordinance in an emergency meeting at 8:15 a.m. Friday.

In addition, the government agreed to keep the cost of license fees at the lowered rates the mayor and commission had approved earlier for the current year through 2022: $1,500 for liquor, $450 for beer and wine.

Athens-Clarke will also continue to waive penalties and interest for late payments of excise taxes until the state judicial state of emergency and possible extensions expire. Under Georgia law, a state of emergency declaration expires after 30 days, but may be renewed.

Bar closing time will revert back to 2 a.m. five days after the judicial emergency is lifted. The current judicial emergency is in effect through Sept. 10 but may be renewed. Supreme Court of Georgia Chief Justice Harold Melton has renewed it five times so far since first declaring the emergency in mid-March.

The bar owners also agreed not to challenge Athens-Clarke’s ordinance making wearing masks mandatory in the city.

Bar owners filed the lawsuit July 31, the day after Mayor Kelly Girtz and the Athens-Clarke Commission approved changing closing time from 2 a.m. to 10 p.m. with the intention of limiting spread of COVID-19 in the community.

The bars that challenged the ordinance include On The Rocks, Moonshine Bar, Cloud, Infusia, Centro Athens and Buddha Bar.

After a brief hearing, also on July 31, Norris ruled that the government could not enforce the ordinance pending a full hearing.

Lawyers for the bar owners argued the 10 p.m. closing time and the requirement that people wear masks entering the business would damage their businesses and was in conflict with Gov. Brian Kemp’s emergency orders, which do not require masks.

“We’re seeking to stop the county from usurping the governor’s orders,” another plaintiffs lawyer, Mo Wiltshire, said as the bars filed the lawsuit.