Cities and towns face lengthy waits for liquor licenses

When Gov. Charlie Baker signed legislation to grant Westborough an additional liquor license on Aug. 2, it marked the 149th new license granted in the Acts of 2016.
 
Westborough had petitioned the state for the license in October 2015, and the 10 months it took for a single license to be approved reflects the slow nature of the state’s liquor license policy. For Westborough, 10 months is actually faster than the 18 months it has taken in previous attempts.
 
For the 21 cities and towns that received additional liquor licenses in 2016, the average timespan between filing a home rule petition and the governor’s signature was 13 months, according to an MMA analysis. The longest delay belonged to Bellingham, which waited more than two years for a single license.
 
The average timespan between legislation being filed and the bill becoming law was 10 months.
 
Many cities and towns highlight the economic benefits of additional liquor licenses. The recently approved license for Westborough will go to the Nathan Fisher House, where officials hope that the ability to serve liquor will promote job growth and historical redevelopment.
 
Somerville, which received 65 licenses in July, sees the package of licenses as an integral part of revitalizing the city.
 
The time-consuming process, however, deters many businesses that cannot afford to operate without the ability to sell liquor. Restaurant owners that cannot sell alcohol report that they often see customers walking out after seeing no alcoholic beverages on the menu. The state’s restrictive liquor license policies particularly hurt small businesses that cannot afford to pay an exorbitant price to buy an existing license from another business.
 
Urban neighborhoods also feel the strain, as residents seek places to dine and socialize over a drink. Many cities and towns place revitalization of their downtowns as an economic development priority, and thus view liquor license policy reform as integral to continued growth.
 
With support from the MMA, several attempts have been made to reform the system by granting cities and towns the authority to issue liquor licenses, including a provision in the “municipal modernization” bill that was filed by the governor, but each of these has been defeated in the Legislature.

Written by MMA Legislative Intern Daehyun Kim