(c) Allston Brighton TAB
New liquor licenses a plus for biz
By Karen Elowitt, Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 03, 2007 - Updated: 04:08 PM EST
The state legislature recently granted the city the authority to issue 55 additional liquor licenses in Boston, with the stipulation that most must be earmarked for specially designated zones within the city, including three areas of Allston-Brighton.
Governor Mitt Romney signed a law in late December which authorizes the Liquor Licensing Board to issue 25 new all-alcohol licenses, and 30 new wine and beer licenses. The new licenses are different from existing ones in that they cannot be sold and transferred to another business.
Of the 55 total new licenses, 40, including all of the beer and wine licenses, are restricted to certain areas designed by the Boston Redevelopment Authority as either main streets districts, urban renewal areas, empowerment zones or municipal harbor plan areas.
The new law represents the culmination of an 18-month battle between the state legislature and the city over how and where new licenses should be issued.
According to Patricia Malone, Boston’s commissioner of consumer affairs and licensing, there was a lot of give-and-take between city and state in order to come up with a plan to balance the interests of business owners, the city and residents.
The new law was intended to preserve the value of existing licenses, while attempting to spur growth in up-and-coming areas of the city.
“We tried to look at it from an economic development standpoint, and see where it made sense to distribute them,” said Jessica Shumaker, a spokesman from the BRA.
The North End and the Back Bay were excluded from the zoning since these entertainment districts already have the lion’s share of licenses. However, Daniel Pokaski, chairman of the Boston Licensing Board, said that there is some flexibility built into the legislation, so that a business in one of the excluded areas can get a license under certain circumstances.
“We will ask BRA to increase or decrease the zones based on the needs of the applicants,” Pokaski said, noting that the city could assign a license to a nondesignated area by asking the BRA to enlarge one of the designated zones.
Since the spring of 2005, when the previous limit of 970 liquor licenses was reached, businesses have been clamoring for more to be issued. The shortage drove the cost of purchasing a license to record levels, with beer and wine licenses selling for as much as $70,000, and all-alcohol licenses costing between $200,000 and $300,000.
What does this mean for A-B?
Reaction in Allston-Brighton has been mixed. Some civic leaders are opposed to any new licenses being awarded in the main street areas, which they feel already have too many drunken revelers. However, some restaurant owners without liquor licenses feel that they have a hard time competing with neighboring establishments that have them.
Shanghai Gateway at 204 Harvard Ave. in Allston is one of the first area restaurants eligible for one of the new licenses. They are currently in the process of seeking community approval for their license through the Allston Civic Association.
Owner May Wang said that he does not think that his having a liquor license will have a negative effect on the community, but would simply be an asset to his existing customers. According to Wang, his customers simply want to have wine or beer with their meal, particularly on special occasions such as birthday parties or anniversaries.
Jennifer Rose, the president of Allston Village Main Streets, said that it is a complicated issue. “We can sympathize with both the residents’ and the businesses’ point of view,” she said. “Residents are worried about increased noise and drunkenness, particularly if a new license is transferred from a responsible owner to someone less responsible. But if the restaurants are successful in getting the licenses, it should help strengthen their sales, which would benefit the community.”
Paul Berkeley, chairman of the Allston Civic Association, said that he is disappointed that the Allston main street area was included in the BRA zoning plan. “We don’t need more liquor licenses,” he said. “The majority of police, parking and traffic problems come from places that serve alcohol. Massachusetts general law says that licenses should only be issued if they serve the common good, and for Allston, which is already oversaturated with this type of business, I don’t believe that it is in the common good to have more.”
Pokaski said that the new licenses will not be liberally handed out, and proprietors will still have to take all the required steps. “There’s a process — a community process, that businesses have to adhere to,” he said. “They will have to demonstrate a public need, notify abutters, advertise publicly, and meet with and get approval from civic groups and elected officials.”
Pammi Singh, the owner of the Punjab Palace on Brighton Avenue in Allston, said that not having a liquor license is hurting his business. “Almost all of our customers ask for beer or wine with their meal, yet we can’t serve it,” said Singh, who is planning to apply for one of the new licenses. He said that his other restaurant, India Quality in Kenmore Square, is more successful than Punjab Palace because it has a liquor license and is able to cater to customers’ needs.
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