Politics & Government

Town Considering Comprehensive Alcohol Regulations

Town officials are considering a comprehensive set of regulations governing the sale of alcoholic beverages in Wakefield. 

At a community forum on Thursday morning, many of the town's liquor license holders were on hand to learn more about the regulations, and in some cases, to register their concerns about potential new costs and regulatory burdens. At this point, the town does not have a formal set of alcohol regulations in place. 

Board of Health Director Ruth Clay reported that the draft regulations were based on those from the town of Brookline. Some funds from a five-year, $125,000 federal grant will help provide some free training sessions on safe alcohol sales to the license holders' establishments. Town liquor license holders can also expect compliance checks in the future to guard against underage sales. A first violation would carry a penalty ranging from a warning to two days license suspension, while a 3rd or subsequent offense could result in a suspension of seven days, or even revocation. Clay also noted that a grant coordinator, Catherine Dhingra, has been hired as well. 

The complete set of proposed regulations is about 30 pages in length and is expected to be taken up at an upcoming Board of Selectmen meeting - possibly as early as November 13. 

Several liquor license holders expressed concern about the costs of the new regulations being passed on to their establishments in the long term, or whether the provisions could hinder their business needs in other ways. One idea suggested was to use some of the town's meal tax revenues to help businesses offset the cost of alcoholic beverage training for employees. 

Clay maintained that "the intent is not to cause any additional cost" to local business. "There's really nothing in here that's an additional cost to you... Most is exactly what you're doing" she added. Clay also pointed out that many other surrounding towns already have their own liquor regulations with specific penalties that are "pretty much exactly what you would have there." 



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