by Frank Schroth

Town Meeting had a lengthy discussion on an article seeking to petition the legislature for a liquor license that could be awarded to a restaurant being proposed in East Milton. Yesterday the State House News Service reported that  Governor Patrick has proposed lifting the cap on liquor licenses for all Massachusetts cities and town. What does this mean for Milton?

The answer is unlcear. There are two issues. One is the number of licenses the town can award and the second is the process followed for awarding a license.

And why does the cap matter? A number of Massachusetts cities and towns have been working for some time to get relief from the cap imposed by the state on the number of liquor licenses they can award. The cap is determined by population. Restaurants are viewed as critical elements in energizing and revitalizing urban communities, downtown communities, and commercial districts. To be successful, restaurants need a liquor license. Town leaders are stymied in that they cannot attract a key business to commercial development due to fact that they cannot issue additional licenses. Smaller towns have an issue in that chain restaurants take up all their licenses and independents can’t break in. The State House News article states, “Nakajima (assistant secretary for innovation policy at Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development) said lifting the cap on liquor licenses will eliminate a ‘hurdle’ for businesses seeking access to liquor licenses that are often part of larger economic development projects.”

According to information from Town Hall, under the current cap policy Milton is allowed:

• 29 all alcohol on-premise pouring licenses. The Board of Selectmen have issued 8 (American Legion, Wollaston Golf Club, Milton Fuller Housing [2], Hoosic Club, 88 Wharf, Abby Park, and Steel & Rye)
• 6 all alcohol off premise-package store licenses. The Board of Selectmen have awarded 2 (East Milton Wine & Sprits and Central Liquor Mart)
• 6 wine and malt (beer) pouring licenses. The Board have issued 1 (Ichiro Sushi)
• 6 wine and malt (beer) off premise-package store licenses (Fruit Center and Esprit de Vin)

If the Governor’s proposal passes then the caps go away but even under the cap at the moment Milton still has space. There are two others in the process, Mr. Chan’s and 2 Adams Street which if issued will bring total of all alcohol pouring licenses to 10. That still leaves 19 all alcohol pouring licenses to be awarded.

The larger issue for Milton is in the process and whether this proposal of the Governor’s will relieve Milton of the current method for obtaining and issuing a liquor license. The process is an arduous one from the point of view of a developer seeking to put a restaurant in Milton. Milton elected some time ago to subscribe to this process which requires a developer to inform the Board of Selectmen of their intent at which point the board will put an article on the town warrant petitioning the Massachusetts legislature to grant a liquor license. Town Meeting needs to pass that article, then the legislature needs to grant the license. If the license is granted then the developer needs to review their proposal with the Board of Selectmen who then need to vote to issue the license. It is not clear if the Governor’s proposal will also afford the Board of Selectmen here full control over the issuing of licenses as well as the number. Town Counsel will likely need to make a determination on that.

Town Meeting passed an article to petition the legislation for a liquor license that would be issued to a restaurant being proposed in East Milton. It will be developed by the Falconi Company at the site of the old Milton movie theater. In debating the issue at Town Meeting Senator Joyce argued against the passing the petition. He cited a flurry of liquor licenses that had been awarded over the last couple years and cautioned that we should see how these play out and what impact they might have on the character of the town. Proponents argued in a similar vein to what is described above (i.e. restaurant is a critical need to continue revitalization of East Milton). Paul Hogan, representing the Falconis, said the process required almost a 2 year lead time. The issue for Milton is not the cap but whether or not town officials can adopt a quicker process or even want that. The current process is slow but cautious and deliberate.