License to Swill

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.