BCAT News

The Burlington Select Board on Monday voted to support a Town Meeting warrant article that would seek a home rule petition to extend liquor licenses granted to the Burlington Mall back in 2020. 

It’s part of Massachusetts’ arcane rules for granting liquor licenses, a system that requires sign-off from Town Meeting, the Massachusetts legislature, and the governor herself. In 2018, Town Meeting approved nine liquor licenses – five full licenses and four only for beer and wine – and in January of 2020, former Governor Charlie Baker signed the home rule petition making it happen. But along the way, the legislature added a time limit: The licenses had to be awarded within five years, meaning they’d go away if they weren’t claimed by January of 2025. 

“Think back to March of 2020, the COVID outbreak and everything that transpired in terms of the impact on retail construction and everything else, and there was a delay in being able to utilize that,” said Mark Vaughn, an attorney representing Simon Property Group, the owner of the Burlington Mall. 

Six of the nine extra permits have been claimed, Vaughn said. “We feel comfortable that with the extension of the time all those will be used, as the Burlington Mall has proven to be a popular destination as a dining hub.” 

A warrant article going before Town Meeting later in September will ask the legislature and Governor Maura Healey for a three-year extension of the permits. The Select Board voted 4-1-0 in support of the measure, with Nick Priest voting against it.