Melrose's Loosening Liquor Laws Already Getting Tightened

MELROSE, MA — Slowly — very slowly — but surely, the city's liquor laws are being dragged into the 21st century.

The City Council got a few steps closer to affording retail shops like Buckalew's and Beacon Hill Wine the opportunity to sell liquor and spirits alongside beer and wine, but a number of particulars kept the proposal from advancing from Thursday night's Appropriations Committee meeting.

While the Council appears inclined to expand liquor sales, there are still wrinkles to iron out. The Council's hesitations revolved around what kind of limitations would be placed on the sales, how many liquor licenses would be changed and what the incoming administration thinks about both issues.

City Solicitor Robert Van Campen said outgoing Mayor Gail Infurna had already instructed the Liquor Commission to begin amending rules that would restrict certain selling certain containers, such as nips.

But the Council took matters into its own hands, amending the order to restrict sales of beverages with 25 percent alchohol or greater to containers holding 750 milliliters or more — essentially meaning hard liquor cannot be sold in anything less than a fifth. That amendment, proposed by Councilor Mike Zwirko, replaced an earlier one by Councilor Peter Mortimer that only would have restricted the sales of containers holding less than 12 ounces, essentially banning nips.

Zwirko said he was concerned about people buying containers they could discreetly carry around, say, to a high school football game.

The Council also believed the order impacting just two licenses was arbitrary, and that including the third unused license could make it more desirable for another business. Van Campen said the proposal was only for two because that's all the market currently sustains in Melrose.

"It really came down to a question of what the market could bear and what the community would accept," Van Campen said. "The mayor felt that expanding for all three retail food establishments, particularly where one isn't even issued, may be somewhat excessive."

The order was presented by Infurna, who will officially transfer mayoral duties to Paul Brodeur Friday evening. The proposal was to expand alchohol sales for two of the three liquor licenses in the city — the only two licenses in use are owned by Buckalew's and Beacon Hill Wine.

Van Campen said Buckalew's and Beacon Hill Wine would still need to petition the Liquor Commission to expand sales, though that would likely just be a formality.

"For local businesses to thrive, we are always looking to find additional ways to keep customers coming in to make sure that they are spending their time and money in Melrose," Buckalew's owner Robin Pevey said in a statement read Thursday night by Michelle Carson.

Some members of the Council also wanted to hear about how the new administration feels about the issue. Appropriations Chair Kate Lipper-Garabedian said she received a text from Brodeur before the meeting indicating he was in favor of the order, and Van Campen later said he believed the incoming mayor would be open to the amendments made, but some thought that was insufficient.

A late-night inquiry to Brodeur from Patch went unanswered.

Some Councilors, including Monica Medeiros and John Tramontozzi, wanted to delay a vote to give the public more opportunity to weigh in.