Natick mulls relaxing alcohol policies, opening door to more businesses

NATICK — Wine bars, BYOB and even a downtown pub may finally be in play for Natick as the Select Board considers relaxing some of the town’s alcohol licensing policies.

During last week's board meeting, Select Board Chair Paul Joseph — who has led the policy review — acknowledged speculation that Natick’s restrictive alcohol rules had cost the town business opportunities over the years.

“We’ve had potential restaurant owners and pub owners come and consider Natick, but because of certain rules that we have in place, have chosen to land their businesses elsewhere,” he said.

What’s been done?

Over the past several months, Joseph, assistant to Town Administration Donna Donovan, police Lt. Brian Lauzon and Director of Community and Economic Development Amanda Loomis formed a working group to conduct community outreach, review existing rules and regulations, and suggest changes.

The group surveyed 149 Natick residents, business owners and community stakeholders. The vast majority — 110 people — reported feeling dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the town’s current rules and regulations governing alcoholic beverages.

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Several respondents said they wanted to see the regulations relaxed in order to attract a more diverse array of restaurants and businesses. Many also spoke of a desire to see a bar in downtown Natick.

“The rules need to be more lax as there are not a lot of options, specifically downtown, where one can grab a drink,” one respondent wrote. “I constantly end up in Framingham or Wellesley when I'd rather support a local establishment.”

Another resident took aim at the town’s 35:65 ratio of alcohol to food, which stipulates that no more than 35% of a license holder’s gross sales will come from alcohol. That rule, they said, encourages businesses to focus on “cheap” alcohol.

“The reality is that for the benefit of the town, we should be trying to attract alcohol-related businesses that are higher end,” the resident said. “This doesn’t mean pricing out local residents, but it means having businesses that are serious and creative, rather than purely aiming at ticking boxes to keep their license.”

During the meeting, Joseph said the 35:65 rule was put in place as a way to potentially control or limit the amount of alcohol consumption relative to the amount of food consumption.

“But what we found is, over the years, it's not necessarily a reflection of actual reality of service,” he said. “Because if a restaurant, for example, has a very expensive wine list, the percentage of the receipt for that meal is probably going to be higher… not necessarily because there's more alcohol but because it's more expensive.”

What is the working group proposing?

According to a memo from Joseph included in the meeting materials, some of the working group’s proposed changes include:

• Eliminating the requirement that revenue from alcohol sales not exceed 35% of gross sales annually;

• Eliminating the 100-seat requirement for all-alcohol license holders and consider eliminating the 15-seat requirement for malt and wine license holders;

• Allowing a BYOB (bring your own beverage) option for local restaurants;

• Considering creating licenses for mobile service options such as beer trucks or mobile pubs;

• Allowing beverage service on non-school town properties, such as the Sassamon Trace Golf Course;

• Considering allowing wine bars by granting an additional on-premise permit to existing retailers;

• And considering allowing businesses to serve alcohol in pitchers up to 64 ounces for parties of two or more.

Some of the proposed changes will make Natick more welcoming to innovative and modern business models, Joseph explained.

“I think the spirit of the conversations that we had in the working group was such that we wanted to be aligned with the consumer market of 2022,” he said.

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The proposals are also intended to make the town’s policies less rigid for restaurants emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One of the things we've been learning post-COVID is the need to be flexible and provide … greater flexibility to the community of restaurant owners that want to potentially move their operations outside or have spaces within their perimeters to serve,” Joseph said.

What's next?

Select Board member Bruce Evans called the proposals “a great start” and said he looks forward to digesting the information and asking questions.

Joseph said he expects the board to continue discussions about the policies and proposed changes at future meetings, “and nothing will be decided without the full input of the public and the board.”

“My hope is by the end of June and very beginning of July, we can actually adopt a document that reflects the ultimate recommendations of this working group with input from the Select Board, as well as members of the public,” he added.

Abby Patkin is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. Follow Abby on Twitter @AMPatkin. She can be reached at apatkin@wickedlocal.com.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Natick may revise alcohol policies to attract more businesses