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Council approves local option allowing wine-and-malt license holders to convert to nontransferable all-alcohol licenses
Summary
The council approved a local-option ordinance under state law that lets interested wine-and-malt licensees apply to convert their license to a nontransferable all-alcohol license following a city hearing and state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission approval.
The Boston City Council voted to accept a local option under Massachusetts General Laws (chapter 138, section 12D) enabling certain wine-and-malt licensees to convert to a nontransferable all-alcohol license after local hearing and state approval.
Councilor Coletta Zapata, chair of the Committee on Government Operations, told members the committee held a hearing Sept. 22 and heard from city licensing staff and local business representatives. She said the local option is meant to provide a new tool for small restaurants to expand alcohol offerings without increasing the total number of all-alcohol licenses the city holds. "This local option reasonably expands opportunity to small businesses across the city to help them increase profit margins and compete in the industry," she said.
City staff described the process: an interested malt-and-wine licensee must file a change-of-category application including certificates of good standing from the Department of Revenue and Department of Unemployment Assistance and pay fees (roughly $470); the city's licensing board makes a public-need finding and forwards the application to the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission for final approval. City staff said conversions do not increase the city's total number of transferable all-alcohol licenses and that when a converted business no longer needs the license it returns to the pool from which it originated.
The committee reported the city currently holds about 677 transferable all-alcohol licenses and has issued roughly 375 malt-and-wine licenses; those figures were presented during the hearing. The committee recommended passage and the council adopted the report and passed the local option. Councilor Ed Flynn voted against the committee report, saying he had asked follow-up questions and had not received needed information in advance.
Supporters and the administration said they will conduct outreach to ensure businesses across neighborhoods are informed about the option and that the licensing board pledged to expedite conversions for interested establishments.
The council accepted the committee report and passed docket 1411.
