By Michael Andrews
Mountain Life Editor
An Ellijay distillery is locally licensed to operate under a new name after its second time before the city council.
Councilmembers approved a microdistillery license application for DB Distillery (formerly White Path Distillery) when meeting at City Hall Monday, Sept. 19.
David Bland, the brandy distillery’s registered agent, and James Sturgeon, owner of the Old Northcutt Road property where the distillery is located, had previously applied for a new license.
That application was reviewed at a July council meeting where members of Northcutt Baptist Church voiced opposition to the distillery. Also at that July meeting, councilmembers were told by Police Chief Ed Lacey that a Georgia Department of Revenue (DOR) investigation was underway to determine if the distillery was operating under a “straw man” situation, in which someone unwilling or unable to obtain a distillery license uses another person to get the license.
The distillery had been licensed under Sturgeon’s son’s name, and a new license was needed after a parting of ways voided the previous license. The council did not vote for or against the license application submitted under Bland’s name in July, which left the distillery still without a local license. Distilleries in Georgia must have state, local and federal licensing or permitting to operate legally.
In a public hearing for the most recent license application, which preceded the Sept. 19 council meeting, Bland gave Mayor Al Hoyle and councilmembers Sandy Ott, Kevin Pritchett, Tom Crawford, Katie Lancey and Al Fuller printouts of an email he said was from Bryan Miller, a special agent with the Georgia DOR.
The email reads: I see no reason why the license for DB Distillery Inc. wouldn’t be approved by the state, especially after James Sturgeon has been added to the license application.
“It looks like we’re good (as far as) the state goes. We’ve got to have y’all’s approval before we can get theirs,” Bland told the council.
Before the item was introduced in the council meeting, Crawford called for a brief executive session for the purpose of legal discussion. After the meeting reconvened, Ott asked about Bland’s name being on the new license application.
“There’s nowhere on there for two people to be on it. We attached a form with all of James’ information on it,” Bland said.
Hoyle said Sturgeon was added as someone who has financial interest in the distillery, but Bland is still the registered agent.
The council ultimately approved granting the microdistillery license, with only Crawford voting no.
The council also heard a rezoning request pertaining to the White Path Creek Event Center property owned by Sturgeon.
Per Andrew Mathis, Ellijay code enforcement officer, the property was previously zoned as PUD-C, which is for planned unit developments with limited commercial development for residents.
The property was annexed under PUD-C zoning in 2006, prior to Sturgeon purchasing it, and has been treated as general commercial, noted Mathis in a report to the council. If the property wasn’t officially rezoned to GC, it could no longer be used for commercial purposes, he noted.
Mathis said he believes the error resulted from a past misinterpretation of the PUD-C zoning category, and Sturgeon acted in good faith and applied to have the property rezoned.
The rezoning to GC passed after little discussion and no opposition in the public hearing.
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