Liquor Licenses moving with Population by Sarah Larson

BUCKS COUNTY COURIER TIMES - THE INTELLIGENCER

It probably comes as no surprise that in a state where liquor licenses are tied to population, the most populated areas have the most bars and other liquor-serving establishments.

But an analysis of retail liquor licenses in Bucks and Eastern Montgomery counties also shows that the licenses are moving where the people move.

Seven years after a state law changed to allow the licenses to move freely within a county's borders, 12 licenses have been transferred across municipal lines in Eastern Montgomery County, with at least two moves pending approval. In Bucks County, 26 licenses have been transferred, with at least six moves pending.

In many cases, those licenses are moving out of boroughs and once-thriving townships where they had been for decades, and into once-rural townships with expanding populations.

The transfers also typically move a liquor establishment from neighborhoods to shopping centers, making for fewer conflicts between neighbors and bars and better quality of life for everyone, said state Sen. Chuck McIlhinney Jr., who wrote the 2001 law allowing for the transfers.

“So what was once a neighborhood bar is going to end up in a shopping center, and that was kind of the point — to separate bars and their noise and distraction from the residential areas,” said McIlhinney, R-10. “If those bars were proposed for those same neighborhoods today, they wouldn't be approved. And besides, most bar and restaurant owners would probably prefer to be in strip malls, where they'll get more foot traffic.”

On Monday, for example, Hilltown supervisors will consider a request from newly formed B&V 313 Enterprises to transfer a liquor license from Sellersville to a new restaurant proposed for 624 W. Route 313.

That license, in existence since 1948, most recently belonged to Emil's Diner, at 321 S. Main St., according to state data. The building is now home to the A&N Diner.

Until February 2001, that liquor license could have been transferred only elsewhere within Sellersville. Licenses could not be transferred across municipal borders.

McIlhinney, who then represented Doylestown in the state House, wrote a law that allowed for the cross-town transfers. But the main goal of the law was not really the transfers; it was to give local leaders more control over liquor-serving bars and restaurants that wanted to open within their borders.

At that time, Pennsylvania law regulating such establishments was something of a split personality.

State law ties liquor licenses to population; one retail license is allowed for every 3,000 people. Yet, in 1984, a “resort” designation was created to allow businesses to evade those restrictions. No limits were put on the number of alcohol establishments that could open in towns such as Doylestown that were designated “resorts.”

At the urging of Doylestown leaders, McIlhinney wrote a law eliminating the resort designation. As a sort of compromise, licenses were allowed to be transferred across municipalities as long as the move was approved by town leaders where the business wanted to open.

“My whole point in writing the law was turning it back and giving the municipality the say,” he said. “And we can see now that it's proceeding exactly as was intended. I think it's working well for the municipalities. It's something we have to continue to monitor, but the days of uncontrolled resort licenses — that's over.”

Today, Bucks County is home to 381 retail liquor licenses, according to data from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, which licenses the bars and restaurants. Eastern Montgomery County has 70 such licenses.

The bulk of the establishments are in populated areas, with Bristol, Bensalem, Middletown and Falls leading the list in Bucks.

As many a would-be business owner quickly learns, buying a liquor license is a long, expensive legal process.

“I've seen transfers happen as quickly as three months,” said Chad Byers, of The Pennsylvania Liquor License Company, “but the last one I did in Malvern took just over a year.”

The licenses don't come cheap, said Byers, who started his company last year to help buyers and sellers of liquor licenses during the negotiations. (www.PennsylvaniaLiquorLicense.com)


If you want to open a bar in Montgomery County, the liquor license alone will set you back anywhere from $185,000 to $225,000, Byers said. In Bucks County, that figure is likely to be $125,000 to $225,000, he said.

Most buyers turn first to licenses the state holds in “safekeeping” for business owners who have temporarily stopped using them, said Joe Conti. The former Doylestown restaurateur and state senator is now head of the state's liquor control board.

“Anyone who's looking for a license goes to safekeeping first,” Conti said. “Many times, there are restaurants that haven't done well, so you could explore buying that license and the owners might be more willing to sell.”

Both Conti and McIlhinney agree that the quota system limiting the number of retail liquor licenses — as well as the philosophy that keeps beer, wine and liquor sales out of most supermarkets — is unlikely to change any time soon.

While the Philadelphia suburbs might lobby for privatization of state stores and a lifting of retail license limits, the rest of the state is against it, McIlhinney said.

“Over 40 percent of the townships in Pennsylvania are dry — no alcohol is allowed to be sold at all,” he said. “There are no bars, no state stores. So, politically, in Pennsylvania and in Harrisburg, there's no support for changing the law.”

But there may be more opportunity in a few years for businesses that want liquor licenses.

Because new licenses are granted according to the population-based quota, and because the population is set by the U.S. Census, 2011 — when the 2010 Census is likely to be approved — could well bring a rush of applications for new licenses, Conti said.

McIlhinney represents Falls, Lower Makefield, Morrisville, Tullytown, Newtown, Newtown Township, Upper Makefield, Yardley, 20 municipalities in Central and Upper Bucks and two Montgomery County communities. Sarah Larson can be reached at 215-345-3187 or slarson@phillyBurbs.com.