The House Liquor Control Committee unanimously approved on Monday legislation, sponsored by Rep. Craig Staats (R-Bucks), that would permit owners of old hotel licenses to convert them to restaurant liquor licenses.
House Bill 1617 would provide owners of hotel licenses issued prior to 1949 with a window during which they could apply to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) to convert the licenses to restaurant licenses. This would give the licensees increased flexibility in the transferability of the licenses.
“Current law requires hotel licenses to remain with the property when sold,” Staats said. “By allowing them to be converted to restaurant licenses, my bill would allow the licenses to be sold separate from the real estate. House Bill 1617 would help to further modernize Pennsylvania’s liquor laws and provide for the productive use of these licenses in areas of the Commonwealth in need of economic development and growth.”
There are roughly 260 hotel licenses issued before 1949.
“The hotel industry has changed significantly over the past 70 years when these hotel liquor licenses were first issued,” Rep. Jeff Pyle (R-Armstrong/Butler/Indiana), chairman of the House Liquor Control Committee, said. “It is now dominated by large chains and the number of locations has diminished greatly. This has resulted in licenses not being used. It only makes sense to move these licenses into the restaurant category to give customers more choices.”
House Bill 1617 now goes to the full House for consideration.