Rebecca Lundberg Witt, on areas where Liquor Board rules need revising

 
[Witt, the Community Law Center staff attorney who has been blogging about the Liquor Board for the past two years and recently expressed concern about the new leadership there, plans extensive comments on the Rules Committee’s work. Asked by The Brew for a quick summary at the outset of issues they should consider, here’s what she came up with:]

Mostly, the application process needs to be much better defined – what does a complete application include? Applications are still coming in incomplete, which makes it really difficult for the community to figure out what’s going on.

Does the establishment have to have a U & O [Use & Occupancy] permit before the hearing? Sometimes the Board issues an approval “subject to the checklist” of documents that are required — but shouldn’t those documents already be in the file? The process is extremely messy, and so are the files.

Anne Arundel County has the most beautifully complete list of documents required before there can be a public hearing.

One-day event licenses should be defined in the rules, and the community should have a say in that process. (Bar crawls and “special events” like Craigsfest are run under one-day event licenses, and it’s a wild west – communities usually have no notice and no input.)

Definitions of terms: for example, what does “fast food” mean? In Baltimore City, fast food restaurants can’t get a liquor license, but the term isn’t defined in state law. Smashburger got a liquor license by saying they’re “fast casual” – which is fine, as long as there’s some definition somewhere that the Board can apply.

Howard County has a good definitions section in their rules.

What about new things like filling growlers? Under state law it’s permitted; under the current rules and regulations, refilling any containers with alcohol on-site is prohibited. What about home delivery of alcohol?

The Board should also adopt rules about the hearing procedure, so that everyone knows what to expect. Howard County has a pretty good set of hearing rules in the link above.