Somerville’s supply of liquor licenses is running low. From Prospect Hill to Davis Square, the city has only six available licenses.  In Massachusetts, liquor licenses are granted by the state legislature through a home rule petition.

Representative Denise Provost sponsored a bill at the State House to increase the number of licenses available in Somerville. “This was a home rule petition, it came from the board of alderman and was signed by the mayor, that wants to increase the number of liquor licenses available in Somerville by 65 more,” Denise Provost told Somerville Neighborhood News. “This bill will probably not be enacted in the form it was submitted. I think there is a feeling that 65 liquor licenses at one time, is perhaps, excessive.”

Provost says there are frequently requests for additional licenses on the agenda, but towns are usually looking for one or two at a time. The state uses a population formula to determine the number of licenses for each municipality.  According to the city of Somerville, the large request fits in with Somervision’s growth plan.

The Assembly Row development currently has eight restaurants and bars tht serve liquor. With development continuing at the site, the current request sets aside 15 licenses just for Assembly Square. Alderman Matthew McLaughlin, of Ward One, wants to make sure local businesses aren’t left out.

“I requested that local small businesses get priority over bigger ones, but the concern I would have is who gets priority,” Alderman McLaughlin said.  “Is it big business interest is it small business? And I could see a situation where something like Assembly Square or a new business in Union Square gets priority over a small store that could serve beer or wine with dinner.”

Charles Abel and Dan Millen are small business owners who recently went through the process of obtaining a liquor license for their new Union Square restaurant and music club, Thunder Road.

“The city mandates that you have a community meeting as part of the process, and we did that,” Abel said. “And there were several neighbors there, some of which were excited for us and some of which had some legitimate questions about how we were going to present our product and how we were going to manage the property. How it would affect them. We tried to answer any questions that they had, and I think we did a good job. So far so good, we are working hard.”

The Union United Coalition has asked for more community meetings and an impact study on how increased liquor licenses will affect local residents and neighborhoods. That kind of local scrutiny is an argument for transferring license control from the state to the municipalities. Rep. Provost is one of twenty-two legislators signed on to a petition to do just that.

“Local community leaders feel it makes sense to have the community itself decide how many is appropriate,” said Representative Provost. “And in any case they are directly accountable to the voters. The question of liquor licenses would get a great deal of scrutiny at the local level, and I am perfectly willing and I think its reasonable to shift the decision to the local level where you get the most local input and the consequences are most strongly felt.”

Both the request for increased liquor licenses and the return to local control bills are currently before the house. Neither bill has been scheduled for a vote.