The owner of a Grovetown gas station on Columbia Road is looking to add selling spirits to its operations.
Gurtej Singh, of Singh Business Inc., has petitioned the Columbia County planning department for a conditional use to allow the opening of a liquor store to the GasPro convenience store at 4800 Columbia Road.
In the accompanying application addendum, Singh notes that the store’s building, roughly 4,600 square feet, also has space for a liquor store, and that customers frequently ask about one at the site. Singh also mentions in the document that there’s not another liquor store within a three-mile radius of the location.
In 2022, amid three prospective liquor owners applying for licenses at once, the Columbia County Board of Commissioners (BOC) voted to enact an ordinance prohibiting retailers of distilled spirits from operating within one mile of one another.
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This GasPro location, zoned C-2, sits on the intersection of Columbia and Old South Belair roads. Last year it was the subject of a variance request to extend its hours, which had been from between 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., allowing it to open at 4 a.m. The BOC would unanimously vote in favor of that request.
If granted its conditional use, the shop’s liquor store would open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, closing at 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 8 p.m. on Sundays.
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The Columbia Couty Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the request during its meeting on Nov. 7.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
