Subcommittee hears briefing on state law allowing wine-and-malt licenses to convert to all-alcohol

The subcommittee for legal affairs received a briefing on Mass. General Laws, Chapter 138, Section 12D and the local procedure to allow on-premise wine-and-malt beverage licenses to convert to all-alcohol licenses.

Councilor Ashroy explained that Section 12D, enacted in the FY2026 state budget, permits on-premise wine-and-malt license holders (restaurants and bars where alcohol is consumed on-site) to apply to change category to an all-alcohol license. The change requires a category-change application filed with the local licensing board and approval from the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC). The application process also requires advertisement, abutters’ notification and a hearing before the licensing board; the licensing board may charge a reasonable fee and set additional requirements.

Ashroy noted the statute applies only to on-premise licenses and does not affect off-premise sellers such as liquor stores. He provided current quota figures as of the end of January: three on-premise wine-and-malt beverage licenses are issued and eight are available; there are two available on-premise all-alcohol licenses. He observed those numbers change over time and converting a wine-and-malt license to all-alcohol could be attractive if all-alcohol licenses become scarce in the quota.

The subcommittee moved to receive and dispense with rules for item 8F related to the licensing board communication; the chair called the vote on the motion. Attorney Lashway and Ryan Melville from the ABC were present and were invited to explain the item further to the subcommittee.

Next steps: the licensing board will receive applications, hold hearings and the ABCC will review conversions; the subcommittee flagged procedural requirements (advertisement and abutters’ notice) as part of any conversion process.