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The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

AN ACT FURTHER REGULATING THE SALE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES IN THE CITY OF SOMERVILLE.

      Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:
      SECTION 1.  Section 3 of chapter 381 of the acts of 2012 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the figure “12” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 22.
      SECTION 2.  Said section 3 of said chapter 381 is hereby further amended by striking out the figure “22”, inserted by section 1, and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 27.
      SECTION 3.  (a) Notwithstanding section 17 of chapter 138 of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, the licensing commission of the city of Somerville may grant 12 additional licenses for the sale of all alcoholic beverages to be drunk on the premises pursuant to section 12 of said chapter 138 and 6 additional licenses for the sale of wines and malt beverages to be drunk on the premises pursuant to said section 12 of said chapter 138 to operators and locations to be determined by the licensing commission in accordance with this section. The licenses shall be subject to all of said chapter 138 except said section 17.
      (b)  The licensing commission shall restrict the licenses authorized in this section as follows:
            (i)  2 licenses for the sale of all alcoholic beverages to be drunk on the premises and 1 license for the sale of wines and malt beverages to be drunk on the premises shall be restricted to entities within the Transformative Areas of the Inner Belt, Brickbottom and Boynton Yards, as those areas are shown on the map; provided, however, that for the purposes of this section and section 5, “map” shall mean the map entitled “Somerville Proposed Liquor License Area Locations", dated June, 2016, a copy of which is on file in the office of the Somerville city clerk; and
            (ii)  10 licenses for the sale of all alcoholic beverages to be drunk on the premises and 5 licenses for the sale of wines and malt beverages to be drunk on the premises shall be restricted to entities within the Enhancement Areas of  Union Square, Davis Square, Ball Square, Gilman Square, Lowell Street, Northwest Somerville, Teele Square,  Broadway, Magoun Square, Highland Avenue, Somerville Avenue and Beacon Street, as shown on the map.
      (c)  A license granted pursuant to this section shall be clearly marked on its face “Transformative Areas or Enhancement Areas Only”. 
      (d)  The licensing commission shall not approve the sale or transfer of a license granted under this section. If a licensee terminates or fails to renew a license granted under this section or if any such license is cancelled, revoked or no longer in use, it shall be returned physically, with all of the legal rights, privileges and restrictions pertaining thereto, to the licensing commission and the licensing commission may then grant the license to a new applicant at a location within the transformative areas or enhancement areas under the same conditions as specified in this section. 
      SECTION 4.  (a) Notwithstanding section 17 of chapter 138 of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, the licensing commission of the city of Somerville may grant 4 additional licenses for the sale of all alcoholic beverages to be drunk on the premises pursuant to section 12 of said chapter 138 and 1 additional license for the sale of wines and malt beverages to be drunk on the premises pursuant to said section 12 of said chapter 138. The licenses shall be subject to all of said chapter 138 except said section 17.
      (b)  Once issued, the licensing commission shall not approve the transfer of a license granted pursuant to this section to any other location but it may grant the license to a new applicant at the same location if the applicant files with the licensing commission a letter from the department of revenue and a letter from the department of unemployment assistance indicating that the license is in good standing with those departments and that all applicable taxes, fees and contributions have been paid.
      (c)  If a license granted pursuant to this section is cancelled, revoked or no longer in use, it shall be returned physically, with all legal rights, privileges and restrictions pertaining thereto, to the licensing commission and the licensing commission may then grant the license to a new applicant at the same location under the same conditions as specified in this section.
      SECTION 5.  (a) Notwithstanding section 17 of chapter 138 of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, the licensing commission of the city of Somerville may grant 15 additional licenses for the sale of all alcoholic beverages to be drunk on the premises pursuant to section 12 of said chapter 138 and 7 additional licenses for the sale of wines and malt beverages to be drunk on the premises pursuant to said section 12 of said chapter 138, to operators and locations to be determined by the licensing commission in accordance with this section. The licenses shall be subject to all of said chapter 138 except said section 17.
      (b)  The licensing commission of the city of Somerville shall restrict the licenses authorized in this section as follows:
            (i)  5 licenses for the sale of all alcoholic beverages to be drunk on the premises and 2 licenses for the sale of wines and malt beverages to be drunk on the premises granted pursuant to this subsection shall be restricted to entities within the Transformative Areas of the Inner Belt, Brickbottom and Boynton Yards, as shown on the map; and
            (ii)  10 licenses for the sale of all alcoholic beverages to be drunk on the premises and 5 licenses for the sale of wines and malt beverages to be drunk on the premises shall be restricted to entities within the Enhancement Areas of Union Square, Davis Square, Ball Square, Gilman Square, Lowell Street, Northwest Somerville, Teele Square,  Broadway, Magoun Square, Highland Avenue, Somerville Avenue and Beacon Street, as shown on the map.
      (c)  A license granted pursuant to this section shall be clearly marked on its face “Transformative Areas or Enhancement Areas Only”.
      (d)  The licensing commission shall not approve the sale or transfer of a license granted under this section.   If a licensee terminates or fails to renew a license granted under this section or if any such license is cancelled, revoked or no longer in use, it shall be returned physically, with all of the legal rights, privileges and restrictions pertaining thereto, to the licensing commission and the licensing commission may then grant the license to a new applicant at a location within the transformative areas and enhancement areas under the same conditions as specified in this act.
      SECTION 6.  (a) Notwithstanding section 17 of chapter 138 of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, the licensing commission of the city of Somerville may grant 4 additional licenses for the sale of all alcoholic beverages to be drunk on the premises pursuant to section 12 of said chapter 138 and 1 additional license for the sale of wines and malt beverages to be drunk on the premises pursuant to said section 12 of said chapter 138. The licenses shall be subject to all of said chapter 138 except said section 17.
      (b)  Once issued, the licensing commission shall not approve the transfer of a license granted pursuant to this section to any other location but it may grant the license to a new applicant at the same location if the applicant files with the licensing commission a letter from the department of revenue and a letter from the department of unemployment assistance indicating that the license is in good standing with those departments and that all applicable taxes, fees and contributions have been paid.
      (c)  If a license granted pursuant to this section is cancelled, revoked or no longer in use, it shall be returned physically, with all of the legal rights, privileges and restrictions pertaining thereto, to the licensing commission and the licensing commission may then grant the license to a new applicant at the same location under the same conditions as specified in this section.
      SECTION 7.  The administrative fee charged by the city of Somerville for a license granted pursuant to sections 3 to 6, inclusive, shall be the same amount as the administrative fee charged by the city for existing licenses granted for the respective category for such licenses. A license granted pursuant to said sections 3 to 6, inclusive, shall be subject to all applicable ordinances of the city.
      SECTION 8.  Sections 1, 3, 4 and 7 shall take effect upon their passage.
      SECTION 9.  Section 2 shall take effect on January 1, 2019 or upon the issuance of all of the licenses authorized in section 3 of chapter 381 of the acts of 2012, whichever occurs first.
      SECTION 10.  Section 5 shall take effect on January 1, 2019 or upon the issuance of all of the licenses authorized in section 3, whichever occurs first.
      SECTION 11.  Section 6 shall take effect on January 1, 2019 or upon the issuance of all of the licenses authorized in section 4, whichever occurs first.

Approved, July 14, 2016.