Law Offices of John P. Connell, P.C.: Under Massachusetts law, when a local licensing authority (“LLA”) takes action to “modify” a licensee’s license, the licensee can normally appeal that action to the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (“ABCC”) for a hearing. M.G.L. c. 138, §67. However, where a LLA decreases or otherwise changes the hours a licensee is authorized to sell liquor, the ABCC has no jurisdiction to hear an appeal as long as the licensee’s hours are not decreased between 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. The decision of a LLA to “rollback” hours is not considered a “modification” within the meaning of the law, but is deemed to be solely within a LLA’s discretion, provided the “rollback” only effects the hours before 11:00 a.m. and after 11:00 p.m.
For example, in Casa Loma, Inc. v. ABCC, 377 Mass. 231, 234-35 (1979), the LLA voted to decrease the licensee’s hours, which were originally from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m., to 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. The licensee appealed this action to the ABCC, yet the appeal was denied without a hearing. The licensee then appealed the ABCC’s decision to the Superior Court, which held that “the hours of a licensee during the periods from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 11 p.m. to the statutorily mandated closing time [11:00 p.m. for package stores and 2:00 a.m. for restaurants] are a matter solely of local control.” Id. at 234. The Court maintained that a LLA could decrease the licensee’s hours on the basis of a “public need for such decrease,” such as here, where the licensed premises was connected to “frequen[t] arrests, disturbances, and incidents, requiring police involvement.” Id. at 232.
While a LLA usually cannot modify a license without some “cause,” such as the licensee’s failure to comply with a condition set upon his license or the licensee’s failure to comply with M.G.L. ch. 138, no such violation is required for a LLA to take action in limiting a licensee’s hours. Id. at 234-35. A LLA may decrease a licensee’s hours for a mere “public need for such decrease” and the action will not be viewed as a “modification” authorizing appeal to the ABCC.
CONTRIBUTED BY COURTNEY MCGEE
© Law Offices of John P. Connell, P.C., 2013.