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Licensing Commission requesting consideration of an amendment to Ordinance 2-219(a) to reduce the number of required legal advertisements for certain license applications from two to one, to expedite public hearings without impacting public input, and to align the city with advertising standards statewide.
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Official Text
To the Honorable Board:
The Somerville Licensing Commission is requesting a change to Ordinance 2-219(a), Liquor and Entertainment Licenses, to reduce the number of times publication of legal advertisement is required from two (2) to one (1) for liquor and entertainment licenses. All surrounding communities and the vast majority of communities in Massachusetts require only one legal ad.
This amendment would reduce the financial burden on applicants, would not reduce City revenue collection, would reduce the administrative burden on the City, and would allow expedited scheduling of hearings. Further, as newspaper circulation has declined in recent years and the Commission now requires site notice to abutters and passersby, the opportunity for public input at hearing would not be impacted.
The current ordinance reads as follows:
In no case shall a liquor or entertainment license be granted, or the hours of operation of either license be increased, until after a notice of the application for such license or increase in hours for such license shall have been published in at least one local newspaper for two consecutive weeks and a public hearing shall have been held not less than ten days after the notice's first appearance, at which all interested persons shall have been allowed an opportunity to give testimony. A roll-back of hours may be ordered by the licensing commission pursuant to Chapter 138, Section 2 of the General Laws.
The Licensing Commission respectfully requests that Ordinance 2-219(a) be amended to delete the above words “for two consecutive weeks” and “first”.
Thank you.
Somerville Licensing Commission
Andrew Upton, Chair