Liquor board grants three 180-day hardship extensions for local licensees

The Board of Liquor License Commissioners for Baltimore City on Jan. 15 approved three 180‑day hardship extensions for local liquor licenses to give owners or prospective transferees time to complete transfers or repairs.

Applicants for Amber Fort said the prior operator closed in May and a new lease has been executed; a landlord representative asked the board for time while tenant improvements proceed. "We just executed a lease. There's some tenant improvements taking place," the landlord representative said.

Don Gilliam and Mandel Powell, representing Teology LLC (701 South Eden Street), told the board their establishment closed in September and that they planned to transfer the license within the same district; commissioners recorded that the written request and the parties' appearance supported the extension.

Representatives of Summit Social Club described substantial water damage after a pipe burst and said renovations would take time. Charles Brown testified under oath that "we had a pipe burst in there" and that the club needed major renovations, which he said justified additional time to comply with licensing-transfer deadlines.

In each case the board cited written hardship requests on file (dates shown in the record) and the applicants’ in‑person statements before voting to approve a 180‑day hardship extension for each Class B (beer, wine and liquor) or Class A license, as applicable. Commissioners voting on the motions recorded approvals; the transcript records affirmative votes from the members present.

The extensions were granted under the board’s statutory and rule authority for handling transfers and hardship requests; the board recessed at the end of the meeting and will reconvene on Jan. 29, 2026.