After a recent rule change, a first-of-its-kind business is coming to South Forsyth. 

At a regular meeting on Thursday, commissioners approved issuing a continual-use permit for a brewery/distillery, called Big Creek Beverage, on 4.9 acres on McFarland 400 Drive currently zoned restricted industrial district (M1). 

At a meeting in July, commissioners voted to allow breweries and distilleries in the M1 areas if they were approved for a permit, which had not previously been the case. 

“I think they’ve been wanting to get this through for a very, very long time, and the holdup was getting our code changed,” said District 3 Commissioner Todd Levent. “The whole code had held everything up, so I think they’re ready to move forward. I think that’s why we did county-initiated, to help them make up for some of that lost time that they had.” 

Sean Courtney, an attorney representing the development, said Big Creek Beverage needed the previous rule change to become a reality and would be going in an existing building

During the meeting, commissioners also approved alcohol licenses for: 

•    Holmes Slice, 6330 Halcyon Way, Ste. 760; 

•    Johns Creek Beverage, 7762 McGinnis Ferry Road; 

•    Modern Hops, 1007 Branch Drive; 

•    Publix Super Market, 5310 Matt Highway.