Howard County board approves Mall in Columbia outdoor consumption license with security conditions

The Howard County Alcohol Beverage Hearing Board on May 13 approved a consumption‑only shopping plaza license for Brookfield Properties Retail Inc., operator of the Mall in Columbia, allowing participating Class B restaurants to sell and their customers to possess and consume alcoholic beverages within a defined outdoor plaza at 10300 Little Patuxent Parkway from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.

The board’s approval followed testimony and a safety plan the Howard County Police Department reviewed. Evan Feldman, an attorney for Brookfield, said the application covers an approximately 95,000‑square‑foot contiguous outdoor area adjacent to restaurants from Shake Shack to Uncle Julio’s and that the plan was submitted under Maryland Alcoholic Beverages Code section 23‑1006.1, the statute authorizing shopping‑mall plaza consumption licenses enacted in 2022.

Brookfield and restaurant operators told the board the program will limit containers to clear plastic cups bearing the serving restaurant’s logo, prohibit bottles and cans in the plaza, and require participating restaurants to remain responsible for lawful sales under their Class B licenses. Mary Williams, senior general manager of property operations for the Mall in Columbia, said signs and decals will mark the plaza and that mall and restaurant staff will coordinate to prevent removal of alcoholic beverages from the designated area. “The responsibility for overall safety and security rests with the mall,” Williams said, adding that restaurants will be liable for violations by their staff.

Williams described planned summer activations, movie nights and other events intended to drive foot traffic and support mall restaurants. She said the mall has added permanent signage and will use temporary sandwich boards during events to clearly identify the consumption area. “We will have signs prohibiting the removal of alcoholic beverages from the licensed area,” she said.

Detective Corporal Mark Baxter of the Howard County Police Department testified he reviewed the mall’s safety and security plan at a March site meeting and provided input; he described the mall plan as meeting the department’s expectations and noted ongoing police engagement at the site. “They have a lot of resources, like a security team and a lot that most places don’t have,” Baxter said in response to the board’s questions about enforcement.

Brookfield described multiple security elements: a 24/7 dispatch center monitoring more than 60 CCTV cameras, roaming and stationary private security officers, a market security patrol, additional trash pickup and street sweeping during events, and a vapor‑wake canine trained to detect certain explosive residues. Matthew Zentner, senior operations manager for the mall, said dispatch is roughly 100 yards from the plaza and that dispatch can radio field officers for a response; he estimated typical private‑security response times at the plaza as under one minute.

Board members pressed for clarity about enforcement and reporting of violations. Corporal Baxter explained that patrol officers and detectives investigate alleged violations and that any enforcement matters would be followed up by the police and, if appropriate, referred for administrative action against license holders. Board members requested ongoing tracking and periodic review of incidents; Baxter and mall staff said they would continue coordinating with county police and could provide reports on calls or incidents.

Before voting, several commissioners asked that mall security receive alcohol‑awareness training. The board approved the license 4–1, conditioning final approval on Brookfield ensuring mall security staff assigned to the plaza complete alcohol‑awareness certification. Chair Chen moved approval; the motion was seconded by Commissioner Coleman. The roll call was: Chair Chen — yes; Commissioner Coleman — yes; Commissioner Hunt — yes; Commissioner Johnson — yes; Commissioner Kim — no.

The board recorded that special events using the plaza will require separate permits under the same section of the Alcoholic Beverages Code and that the mall must apply for those event permits before promoting ticketed or organized special events. The mall and police said they will finalize signage locations and the exact operational details for events in coordination with the department.

The license grants participating restaurants the ability to sell for consumption inside the defined outdoor area while preserving the restaurants’ responsibility to comply with liquor laws. The mall’s resident agent, Rita Chiganda Jones, testified she will be the on‑site resident agent and that she and the mall’s management team will coordinate tenant participation and enforcement.

Board members said they were approving a first‑of‑its‑kind license in Howard County with caution and asked for periodic feedback on enforcement and incident data to assess whether the approach is working. The board’s written decision and conditions are to be recorded in the board’s order file.