Local Licensing Issues

A Springfield nightclub will be temporarily shutting down, following a meeting between an owner of the club and the city’s director of licensing, a spokesperson for Mayor Domenic Sarno said. Director of Communications James Leydon said that Lux nightclub on Worthington Street will cease operations. According to Leydon, Director of Licensing Alesia Days met with […]

Good piece in the Gloucester Times about the cap/quota system in cities and towns across the state, and recent efforts made to increase the number of liquor licenses available in any given municipality.

Two Danvers restaurants and one liquor store were caught selling liquor to an underaged “operative,” Police Chief Neil Ouellette told the selectmen at a recent meeting, as reported by the Danvers Herald. “Unfortunately, I’m a little bit troubled to report that we had three situations of non-compliance where an underage operative was, in fact, served […]

Franklin town councilors will discuss new guidelines for penalizing businesses caught selling liquor to minors, according to the Milford Daily News. All businesses found to have illegally sold alcohol to a minor face possible suspension of their liquor licenses, with the penalties handed down by the council. In recent years, the majority of violations have […]

Several Hingham restaurant owners sent the Selectmen a clear message — not to double the current all-alcoholic common victualler annual license fees — from $2,000 to $4,000 as recently proposed, as reported by wicked local hingham. Representatives/owners from Scarlet Oak Tavern, Salsa’s, Burtons Grill, Liberty Grill, Eat Well (Tosca, Star’s, Tosca Caffe), the Square Cafe, […]

The Milford Daily News reports that selectmen are considering implementing stricter penalties for package stores and establishments with pouring licenses caught selling to minors, including requiring a suspension for first-time offenders. Town Counsel Gerry Moody first brought the issue to selectmen in July while preparing for a hearing at the state’s Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. […]

The Westfield License Commission handed down suspensions and issued warnings to six businesses with liquor licenses after city police provided testimony of minors being served alcoholic beverages during a sting operation. The sting was conducted by the Community Policing Bureau of the Westfield Police Department last August under strict guidelines established by the License Commission […]

Proposed regulations that allow restaurant goers to bring their own alcohol and better define how licenses are transferred were discussed at the latest Board of Selectmen meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 8., according to wickedlocalbrookline & the Brookline Tab. The changes are being proposed for the town’s alcoholic beverages regulations and food sales regulations, and most […]

Justine’s Grill, the newly re-named restaurant on Route 9 in Wellesley, will have to keep waiting for an all-alcohol license. At a recent meeting, the selectmen again questioned the safety of the parking situation and challenged the consistency of the new application with past licenses. The restaurant–formerly known as Justine’s Table–was initially issued a common […]

Burlington Town Meeting has voted to allow the Board of Selectmen to seek additional liquor licenses for specific locations in town, as reported by the Burlington Patch. The article was put forward by Precinct 6 Town Meeting Member Sonia Rollins. It is also supported by the Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce, of which Rollins is […]

Ichigo Ichie was one of two Franklin businesses caught selling alcohol to a minor during recent police liquor stings, the Japanese restaurant’s second such violation in as many years. On June 28, four Franklin police officers and two underage operatives conducted liquor compliance checks at 35 businesses from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Twenty-seven passed, […]

Champion’s Pub and the Nordstrom Cafe Bistro will both be before the Peabody liquor board Monday night for serving alcohol to minors. Licensing Board members said earlier this month that both establishments were caught up in a recent alcohol sting conducted by the Peabody Police Department. Police randomly conduct compliance checks during the year at […]

The owners of a yet-to-be-opened Westford liquor store are in some hot water after they were found stocking the Cornerstone Square shop’s shelves without obtaining a liquor license, as reported by wickedlocal.com. According to a report from the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC), Westford Wine and Spirits, located in the new Cornerstone Square shopping […]

After debating the need for a liquor store in the area and the unusual retail combination, selectmen this week — in a split vote — granted the owner of Community Care Pharmacy a license to sell beer and wine next to her future 214 Rumford Avenue drug store, as reported by the Enterprise News. “I’ve […]

When East Dedham Liquors re-opens for business after a three-month suspension of its alcohol license, it will do so under new management, as reported by boston.com In a split vote, Dedham selectmen have approved a change of manager for the store, which has been found guilty of five violations over a period of 16 months. […]

I commend City Councilor Ayanna Pressley, who has called for a hearing on how to stop the exodus of liquor licenses from the city’s outer neighborhoods to downtown Boston and the waterfront area. Pressley will speak with her fellow councilors about her bid to change the current quota/cap system set by the state legislature on […]

The Needham Times reports that Blanchard’s is one of several businesses that have sent in an application for alcohol licenses in Needham. The other businesses that have turned in applications are Craft Liquors of Needham, Needham Wine & Spirits, Needham Center Wine & Spirits and Volante Farms. Owners of the Belmont-based beer store Craft Beer […]

A hearing on the Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery’s application for a liquor license in Quincy has been postponed and will be rescheduled at a later date, Quincy officials said, as reported by boston.com The hearing at the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission had been scheduled for Wednesday, after the Tilted Kilt’s lawyers appealed a […]

Kudos to State Senator James Eldridge for introducing legislation designed to radically alter the manner in which liquor licenses are issued by the state, essentially doing away with the quota/cap system and replacing it with a system under which the local municipality would decide how many licenses to issue. I’ll be writing about this issue […]

Northborough, Mass considers a BYOB policy, as the number of alcohol licenses available in the town dwindle.

Peabody liquor licensing authorities sent Frank Martino away empty-handed Monday night, questioning his sincerity to operate a package store in the city, as reported by patch.com. The main reason for the Licensing Board’s reluctance to grant Martino a license was because he just sold his full liquor license for a tidy profit less than a […]