Food News
Boston will 225 additional alcohol licenses After the bill received Governor Maura Healey's signature this week, it’s a serious victory for city officials and restaurant owners who’ve faced costly obstacles to alcohol sales due to Boston's cap.
In an announcement, Healey acknowledged that more restaurants within the neighborhoods would mean an economic boost for Boston.
“Neighborhood restaurants play such an important role in our communities and our economy,” Healey said. “This bill will lower the barriers for Boston restaurants to provide the services our customers seek and help them succeed, while supporting local nonprofits, theaters and open spaces.”
Most of those licenses are restricted to specific neighborhoods, meaning they’ll only be issued to restaurants in certain zip codes. If the restaurant now not uses the liquor license, it have to be returned to town somewhat than sold on the private market. However, state lawmakers made room for unrestricted licenses in the ultimate version of the law.
The 225 licenses are distributed as follows:
- Thirteen zip code areas in Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, East Boston, Roslindale, West Roxbury, Hyde Park, Charlestown, Jamaica Plain and South End may have access to 5 liquor licenses per 12 months, three alcoholic beverage licenses and two beer and wine licenses, over a three-year period.
- The Oak Square district of Brighton receives three non-transferable liquor licenses.
- Nonprofits, theaters and outdoor spaces can access 15 licenses.
- 12 licenses are unrestricted.
Some restaurants within the approved zip code areas had already approached the Licensing Board to acquire a liquor license as they awaited the passage of this law. The city's Licensing Board also holds open office hours to those applicants who could have questions on the procedure.
The news that Healey has signed the extra licenses into law comes greater than a 12 months after City Councilman Brian Worrell first introduced the bill. The original measure included fewer zip codes and didn’t provide for unrestricted licenses.
The bill never made it past the official session, which ended on August 1, resulting in public fears that the bill would never pass. But earlier this month, state and House lawmakers reached a compromise.
“On behalf of our fellow conference members, we are proud to announce that we have reached agreement on a compromise bill that would increase the number of liquor licenses in the City of Boston, dramatically improving equity for restaurant owners in the city's neighborhoods and increasing economic opportunity in communities of color that have been left out for too long,” Senator William Brownsberger and Representative Michael Moran said in a joint statement.
Supporters of the bill hope that its passage may help bridge the wide divide that exists between Boston's neighborhoods attributable to town's current alcohol service regulations.
Boston's liquor license restrictions mean that even when an operator gets one approved, it's nearly unimaginable to get a license from town. The only other option is to buy an unused license from a former restaurant or landlord on the private market, which might fetch as much as $600,000.
The rule has shaped today's restaurant scene: There are 60 to 90 licensed restaurants in Back Bay and Seaport, mostly bought up by restaurant groups that may afford them. And there are only a handful of licensed restaurants in Boston's predominantly low-income BIPOC communities like Mattapan and Roxbury.
“The lack of opportunity and access to licenses has left some of our neighborhoods without successful restaurants and nightlife, which is a cornerstone of thriving cities,” said Senator Liz Miranda, who introduced the unique bill with Assemblyman Christopher Worrell, in an announcement. “Blue Hill Avenue was once a cultural mecca in our city with successful black-owned restaurants and nightlife, and I believe we can be that again.”
image credit : www.boston.com