Community Group Creates Liquor License Policy

In an attempt to ensure businesses holding beer, wine, cordials and full liquor licenses individually and collectively will not cause harm to abutters or the neighborhood, the North End/Waterfront Residents’ Association has adopted a policy limiting the number of licenses in the community to 91. This is a NEWRA policy not a Licensing Board for the City of Boston policy.

In considering harm, NEWRA includes personal and pedestrian safety, property damage, traffic congestion and other unsafe traffic conditions, parking problems, noise and other nuisance conditions in the policy.

“Many of these issues relate to the limited capacity of this primarily residential neighborhood to bear what NEWRA believes is an overwhelming number of existing licenses and related establishments,” according to NEWRA’s Zoning, Licensing and Construction Committee co-chair David Kubiak.

“By this Policy, NEWRA’s foremost objective is to preserve and strive to improve the residential character and livability of the North End/Waterfront neighborhood,” Kubiak added.

Currently there are 89 liquor licenses of some sort in the neighborhood. NEWRA has supported 2 recent requests, and if granted, the total would reach the organization’s cap of 91.

Kubiak noted, “NEWRA reserves the right to amend the policy at any time.”

At a recent NEWRA annual meeting some residents expressed a desire to lower their policy number of licenses.

The next NEWRA monthly meeting will be held on Thursday, November 8 at 7pm in the Nazzaro Community Center, 30 North Bennet Street.

Note: David Kubiak has been elected Secretary of the association at NEWRA’s annual meeting.