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Date: 11/23/2022
WEST SPRINGFIELD – The town will have seven new liquor licenses to issue when Gov. Charlie Baker signs recent legislation into law.
On Nov. 14, both the House and the Senate approved a bill, as requested by the mayor and Town Council, that would establish seven new licenses, five in the town’s Economic Opportunity Zone and two in the town’s Route 20 Business Corridor district.
Town Council President Edward Sullivan explained to Reminder Publishing that the new licenses are aimed at the downtown area.
He sees the licenses as a way to encourage new businesses in the area. While he said West Springfield would never be like Northampton in terms of concentration of bars and restaurants, the new businesses brought in would “add a little pop to the downtown.”
Sullivan noted that unlike existing liquor licenses that are transferred from closed bars and restaurants to new establishments in private sales, West Springfield would initially own these new licenses and the License Commission would take applications and vote on whether to issue the license.
Any local decision would then go to Boston and the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission for final approval.
“I think it will be a good thing if managed properly,” Sullivan noted.
Mayor William Reichelt did not respond to several requests for comment.
According to a map attached to the mayor’s proposal to the Town Council in March, the downtown Economic Opportunity Zone covers the area south of Kings Highway, north of Memorial Avenue and east of North Boulevard, as well as the south side of Westfield Street from South Boulevard to Mittineague School. The Route 20 Business Corridor runs along Westfield Street and north to Kings Highway, bounded on the east by North Boulevard and on the west by Nelson Street.