The Shy City Jazz Lounge wants to bring some dancing to Athens Street, but the Hall County Board of Commissioners has a few requirements before approving a business license.

Owner Melody Parrot, who uses the space as a banquet hall, wants to host live music on Friday nights. The business doesn't qualify as a restaurant and can't serve alcohol, so Parrot wants to allow customers to bring their own alcohol.

"There's nothing in our code that addresses BYOB. It doesn't say you can or can't; it's simply not addressed," said Susan Rector, director of the county's business license office. "We contacted the sheriff's office to get a record of incidents at this location for the past year, and seven incidents were reported to 911. One was described by an officer as a riot."

Commissioners expressed concerns about unmonitored alcohol on the premises.

"BYOB always concerns me, especially because it opens up the possibility of bringing in whatever kind of alcohol," said Commissioner Craig Lutz. "We don't need underage drinking or people getting over intoxicated. It would be nice if we could find out what we could do in terms of best practices with that or adding a corking fee."

The commissioners also asked Rector to look into the possibility of an event permit for the business.

"That way we know who they are, and they're registered. Someone will be responsible for the premises and can certify that nobody underage will be consuming alcohol," said Commissioner Ashley Bell. "It's reckless for us not to do something, especially if it's advertising for teen events on certain nights."

Commissioners also want to see changes in traffic and lighting in the parking lot at the same location.

"I guarantee if you went further back than a year, you'd get a whole lot more," Bell said. "We know this location has issues, and I think a big problem with the fights and teenagers is the lighting."

Tuesday marked the first reading and public hearing for the business license. Commissioners will vote at an upcoming meeting in May.

"There's no way I can support this unless there is sufficient lighting for an officer to drive by and see into the parking lot," Bell said. "That parking lot is huge, and when there's chaos with the parking and darkness, there's a problem."

This includes defining lines for parking spaces, Bell said.

"The parking lot has no designation for spaces, and that creates the chaos," he said. "People can't get in and get out, and there needs to be some sort of order. The most concerns I hear at that location are traffic."

In other business, commissioners continued their discussion of halting impact fees on construction through December 2012.

The idea is to place a moratorium on fees, which aren't bringing in any money now because of the economy, Lutz said.

"Obviously we are not seeing fees come in right now because we are not seeing building going on," Lutz said. "These impact fees that are collected have to be spent on capital projects that have operational costs that run with them. Right now we don't have a budget that can handle the cost we have today much less what's coming on line."