In just a few years, Washington's supply of liquor licenses could be tapped out. With a growing demand for beer, wine, and spirits licenses in the state, the Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) could, in the next four or five years, be forced to turn away applicants due to a state-imposed license cap.

While a freeze on new bars is a sobering thought, the WSLCB has come up with a plan that could free up cap space by changing the way bars are licensed in the state.

A proposal working its way through the state legislature would revamp Washington's liquor regulations, creating a new license specifically for clubs and giving the state oversight authority that has historically belonged to the city.

Under the WSLCB's new plan, clubs that make less than 50 percent of their profits from food sales could acquire a special nightclub license for $2,000. The new license would exempt them from a requirement that they provide food service.

The new license could also add transparency for people who live in nightlife hot spots like Belltown and Capitol Hill.

"Let's say a bar is going to open up in Fremont. [Right now] the city can't tell what kind of place that's going to be," WSLCB spokesman Brian Smith says. Under the proposed legislation, "They'll know what's going to be coming into the neighborhood."

The bill would also take away Seattle officials' regulatory power over clubs—power the city has used to wage a long-running war on nightlife. Currently, the city can force businesses to sign "good neighbor agreements," placing bars, clubs, and restaurants under tough restrictions in exchange for agreeing not to protest their liquor licenses. The proposed law would put the state in charge of enforcing good neighbor agreements.

The legislation seems to have the support of the nightlife industry. Quentin Ertel, president of the Seattle Nightlife and Music Association board, says, "We like this approach a lot more than the approach the city was trying to take a couple years ago."

The legislation is still being revised in the state house and senate and should be voted on by March 11.