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Boston gets 225 additional liquor licenses after Gov. Healey signs bill
The bill's passing was a major win to the city officials who supported it and restaurant owners who have faced pricey barriers to sell alcohol because of Boston's liquor license cap.
Boston will get 225 additional liquor licenses after the bill received Gov. Maura Healey’s signature this week, a major win to city officials and restaurant owners who have faced pricey barriers to sell alcohol because of Boston’s cap.
In a statement from Healey, she acknowledged that more restaurants in neighborhoods is an economic boost for Boston.
“Neighborhood restaurants play such an essential role in our communities and our economy,” Healey said. “This bill will lower barriers for Boston restaurants to provide the services that our customers are looking for and help them succeed while also supporting local nonprofits, theaters and outdoor spaces.”
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Most of these licenses are neighborhood-restricted, meaning the licenses can only be doled out to restaurants in certain zip codes, and if that restaurant no longer uses the liquor license, it must be returned to the city instead of being sold on the private market. However, state lawmakers did make room for unrestricted licenses in the final version of the bill.
The 225 licenses are broken down as follows:
- 13 zip codes in Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, East Boston, Roslindale, West Roxbury, Hyde Park, Charlestown, Jamaica Plain, and the South End will get access to five liquor licenses a year, three all-alcohol and two beer and wine licenses, over the course of three years.
- The Oak Square section of Brighton will receive three non-transferable liquor licenses.
- Nonprofits, theaters, and outdoor spaces can get access to 15 licenses.
- 12 licenses will be unrestricted.
A couple of restaurants located in the approved zip codes had already approached the Licensing Board for liquor licenses in anticipation of this bill passing. The city’s Licensing Board is also holding open office hours to those applicants who may have questions about the process.
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The news of Healey’s signature putting the additional licenses into law comes more than a year after it was first introduced by city councilor Brian Worrell. The initial measure included less zip codes and didn’t have unrestricted licenses.
The measure didn’t make it out of the formal session that ended Aug. 1, leading to some worries in the community that the bill would never get passed. But state and house lawmakers came to a compromise earlier this month.
“On behalf of our fellow conferees, we are proud to announce that we have reached an agreement on compromise legislation to expand the number of alcohol licenses in the City of Boston, dramatically expanding equity for restaurant owners in neighborhoods across the city, and increasing economic opportunity in communities of color that have been left out for too long,” said Sen. William Brownsberger and Rep. Michael Moran in a joint statement.
Liquor License Coverage
Those who support the bill hope its passage can help in fixing the wide gap that exists between Boston neighborhoods because of the current regulation of liquor licenses in the city.
The limit on liquor licenses in Boston means it’s almost impossible to get a license from the city, even if an operator gets approved for one. Their only other course of action is to go to the private market to purchase a license that’s no longer in use from a former restaurant or landlord that can sell for up to $600,000.
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The rule has set up the current scene of restaurants today: There are 60 to 90 license-holding restaurants in Back Bay and Seaport, mostly snatched up by restaurant groups that can afford them. And in Boston’s mostly low-income, BIPOC communities, like Mattapan and Roxbury, there are only a handful of license-holding eateries.
“Lack of opportunity and access to licenses has stripped some of our neighborhoods from having successful restaurants and nightlife, a core tenet of thriving cities,” said Sen. Liz Miranda, who co-sponsored the initial bill with state Rep. Christopher Worrell, in a statement. “Blue Hill Ave. was once a cultural mecca in our city with successful black-owned restaurants and nightlife, and I believe we can be that again.”
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