Johnson City gets closer to limiting alcohol sales hours in downtown district

A bill that would give Johnson City the power to set its own alcohol sales times in the downtown district progressed toward becoming law on Tuesday. The amended bill would give the Johnson City Commission the ability to set its own hours of alcohol sales in the downtown district separate from the state’s standard last call time of 3 a.m. The bill would designate downtown Johnson City as a premiere tourist location, allowing the city to control the drink sale hours. Many downtown business’s have voiced opposition to the bill, sighting the ability of business’s outside the downtown district without the alcohol restriction to continue to serve customers, possibly siphoning customers away from downtown. The bill will now be taken up by the House Local Government Committee.