Gwinnett Daily Post

SNELLVILLE -- Georgia's Supreme Court justices agreed Friday that a lawsuit over Sunday liquor sales in Snellville is now moot.

Earlier this week, the judges unanimously decided to dismiss an appeal of the case, filed by the city after a Gwinnett judge said a provision in state law does not supersede the need for a referendum on the issue.

Since Judge Mark Lewis's ruling earlier this year, the city held a referendum, where the majority of voters approved Sunday sales. Local restaurants have been allowed to pour alcohol on Sundays since July.

Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer, who had pursued the appeal because he believed the legal issue should be decided on behalf of other cities, did not return phone calls Friday seeking comment.

"I don't know if anybody needed a lawyer to make that statement," about it being a moot point, said Robert Jenkins, a former councilman who was one of eight residents who sued the city last year when officials went ahead with Sunday sales before the referendum was held. "It's extremely unfortunate that Snellville finds itself, instead of being a bright spot on the Atlanta urban scene, we're just like everybody else now."