ATHOL – Two bills to increase the number of all-alcohol and beer and wine licenses available to local businesses are now before the legislature, according to Town Manager Shaun Suhoski.
At the Select Board’s meeting on Sept. 8, Suhoski addressed the ongoing matter, which began at June’s Annual Town Meeting, when voters approved two articles aimed at increasing the number of both types of licenses.
For all-alcohol licenses, this would go from three to eight and for beer and wine, the number would double, from five to 10. The licenses for both types that the town has now are all taken.
The next step in the process is to file home rule legislation, which has been done. The bills – H262 (beer and wine) and H5653 (all-alcohol) – are before the Committee on Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure.
The office of state Rep. Susannah Whipps, I-Athol, has emailed several questions to the board which, depending on the answers, “will be helpful to moving the home rule legislation forward,” Suhoski said.
Questions include whether the five additional licenses will go to specific businesses and if not, does a timeline exists regarding their issuance.
Suhoski noted the board has not voted to grant licenses to specific businesses. He went on to explain that the owners of several existing stores had expressed interest in being able to sell alcoholic beverages as part of their business plan. The board, however, has made no decisions in this regard.
Regarding a question on economic development zones, Suhoski wrote in his report: “(T)he Committee always requests a date-stamped zoning map which defines the areas where the licenses are going. The tying of these ‘over-quota’ licenses to a specific address or within economic development zones works to balance the interests of the potential licensees in their pursuit of a license, existing licensees in maintaining the value of their license in a growing marketplace, and the town in its desire to encourage economic development and increase local commerce.”
Regarding a timeline for issuing the licenses, Suhoski said neither the board nor the voters established a timeline “as it would unnecessarily limit the issuance of the additional licenses. The Select Board, as local licensing authority, will maintain accountability as it does for all of the existing licenses in the community. If a time frame is required, the Select Board suggests that the additional licenses would issue in three to five years.”
Suhoski stressed that the final answers should come from the board. As such, it was decided that members would develop and provide their own responses to Suhoski prior to the meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
Suhsoski added that in 2018, the town had received several inquiries regarding the availability of all-alcohol pouring licenses, potentially for a restaurant or club. As the existing licenses had already been assigned, following town meeting approval, the board asked Whipps to file home rule legislation to increase the number of available licenses from three to nine.
“We recognized it would be good for economic development and other purposes,” said Suhoski. “It took five years to get through, and the quota was increased [in January 2023.]”
Despite the earlier interest, however, “Now we have six licenses that are just sitting there,” said Suhoski, citing the pandemic as the cause. “So, if you know someone who wants to bring a restaurant to town – anybody – let them know we have licenses for that.”