Politics & Government
State Reverses Burlington Selectmen's Decision On Liquor License
The town did not give Burlington beer Works enough time to transfer its liquor license when it abandoned plans to open in Crossroads Plaza.
BURLINGTON, MA -- The Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission reversed a September decision by the Burlington Board of Selectmen to revoke the license of Burlington Beerworks, which had been granted the license but then scrapped plans to open in Crossroad Plaza. The commission ruled that selectmen should have given the business six months to transfer the license before revoking it.
"The Commission finds that the Local Board's decision to cancel the Licensee's license for non use was not reasonable and therefore, is disapproved by the Commission. The Licensee should be extended an additional reasonable amount of time to find a buyer for its license or to operate its license," the commission wrote in its decision. "This decision is final."
The commission said selectmen should give owners a "reasonable period" of six months to find someone to transfer the license to. Selectmen scheduled the revocation hearing for September over the objections of an attorney for Burlington Beerworks who said his client needed more time to find someone to take over the license.
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Burlington Beer Works had previously cited the departure of Busa Liquors, Roche Brothers and Bauer Hockey as the reason for their decision to abandon plans to open a brew pub in the Crossroads Shopping Plaza. In August, an attorney for the company said "Burlington Crossroads is in construction disarray" when asked why the brew pub was no longer planning to open.
"If my client had been open in February [2018], as intended, he would have been sandwiched between two large construction sites and I believe he would be out of business right now," Paul Sporn, an attorney for license owner Slesar Bros. Brewing Company, told selectmen in August.
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Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).
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