Unpopular ideas for Cambridge bar regulations were pulled back formally on Tuesday by the License Commission, including rules around last call – that no alcohol could be bought less than an hour before closing – and the amount of time between drinks that customers could order. A minimum of 30 minutes between drinks was floated as an idea in a draft of rule changes this spring.
“We have received a lot of feedback,” commission chair Nicole Murati Ferrer said, describing mildly a firestorm that resulted June 16 from restaurateurs sharing the proposals on social media, follow by elected officials who shared business owners’ dismay.
City managers assured business owners and elected officials June 22 that their complaints and concerns had been heard.
Ferrer confirmed that, calling the 30-minute idea as especially “too restrictive and not in line with the manner in which this board actually operates.”
“The general consensus is that not only would this negatively impact the business, but also the public need – which is not what we intend or how we operate,” Ferrer said. “We should reject those changes.”
By far the highest-profile concern was about the 30-minute rule, which, as the proposals were understood in mid-June, “would probably be the most restrictive in the country,” said wine bar owner Lauren Friel, of Dear Annie in Cambridge and Rebel Rebel in Somerville, in a social media post.
The board reviewed the feedback carefully and supported the licensees’ perspective, said Jeremy Warnick, a city spokesperson.
The last-call and 30-minute rules and around eight others were walked back and would b held at the existing standard; others are still in consideration for the first update of city rules and regulations for license holders since 2016. Some of the changes are to match what is new in state law, or reflect new legal precedents or changes in the city’s application processes, Ferrer said.
Listening sessions on the changes are scheduled for July 13, July 22 and July 28 based on a request from the City Council. The commission will also meet business association representatives and with staff from the offices of tourism and Community Development, then share that feedback at an Aug. 13 meeting. “We can hear more from the public if there’s anyone there that wants to speak on it,” Ferrer said.
All that leads to a Sept. 2 board meeting dedicated to rules and regulations, which will include a line-by-line review of proposals by the board. But that is still not the end: The goal is to get more input through the fall, then have final amended rules by the end of the year, Ferrer said Tuesday.
“Listening sessions in June resulted in confusion as to the process, based on misunderstanding that the process is still in the very initial stages and the fact that the draft submitted does not represent the board stance,” Ferrer said. “This is a long process.”
Other changes once being considered: Rule 3, which would replace the posting of rules and regulations with a need to keep written proof that each worker was given a copy; Rule 5.3, for surveillance and the keeping of internal reports, record-keeping that was proposed for a full year and now is under discussion at 30 days; a procedural rule on how to ask for removal of outdoor dining areas; Rule 5B.10, which focuses on training for business owners and workers involved in day-to-day operations, rather than including all owners; and Rule 6A about final call, with elimination of a separate last call for pitchers yet to be considered.
Rules around advance ticket sales and whether people 13 or younger can be charged a cover fee or minimum are also drawing comment and discussion, along with proposed impositions on caterers selling alcoholic beverages at private events.
A red-lined version of the proposals for rules and regulations is here.
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