Penn Twp. commissioners support effort to acquire liquor license for south Hanover site

The owner of a vacant restaurant in Penn Township took the first steps in a years-long process to seek an economic development liquor license for the property.

During the October Penn Township Board of Commissioners Meeting, the commissioners held a public hearing for a request from Grandview Plaza LLC., represented by owner Mitzi Clapper and her attorney, Larry Hime.

Clapper, who owns 1418 Baltimore St., Suite 1, had requested the support of the township commissioners in order to begin seeking an economic development liquor license from the state Liquor Control Board.

The property has been vacant since 2018, Clapper said during the meeting, but there have been over 10 restaurants in the last few years that have approached her about the property. All of these restaurants eventually backed away from a lease when they learned the property did not have its own license and that they would have to buy a liquor license on the market, Clapper said.

Liquor licenses on the open market in the area can cost anywhere from $395K to 495K, said Hime, which can make it incredibly difficult for restaurants to open in properties that don't already have one. This is much higher than the cost of such a license in bigger areas like Philadelphia, Hime said, where licenses only cost around $160K.

Economic development licenses were established in 2000 by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to assist with bringing a boost to local economies, according to information from the Liquor Control Board. Instead of costing a business several hundreds of thousands of dollars on the open market, an economic development license comes with a $50,000 surcharge in a first-through-fourth class county like York County, which is refunded if the application is refused.

Until recently, none of these licenses had been granted in York County, Hime said.

In 2020, the Liquor Board awarded an economic development license to two new businesses in downtown Hanover, Oak, and McAllister's on York.

Each year, there are only two such licenses available to each first-through-fourth class county, which includes York County.

In order to be approved for an economic development liquor license, applicants must prove they cannot buy a liquor license on the open market, as well as meet other criteria, including having the support of the municipality.

For a county like York, applicants have to show they have contacted at least 50% of existing license holders and have been unable to purchase their existing license. Clapper told the commissioners she had contacted over 54% of existing licenses in the county, and in one instance a license holder asked for $2 million to purchase the license.

If the economic development liquor license does get approved, the license holder must show that over 50% of their profits come from food and non-alcoholic drinks in order for the license to be renewed.

Clapper told commissioners that she currently had an unnamed Maryland restaurant owner interested in the south Hanover property, but their interest was contingent on the property gaining such a license.

"If I had a dollar for everybody that asks why don’t we have more restaurants in south Hanover, we’d be able to buy you a liquor license ourselves,” said Mark Elksnis, vice president of the township's Board of Commissioners, as he voiced support for Clapper seeking an economic development license.

Before voting on a resolution supporting Clapper seeking the license, commissioners inquired about the possibility of the license being transferred out of south Hanover.

Hime said that the license would be given to the LLC and tied to the property, and once granted, the license can't be transferred out of Penn Township. Commissioners showed some concern that the license could be transferred to northern Penn Township around the already bustling Eisenhower Drive, but Hime and Clapper stressed that the application is specific to 1418 Baltimore St.

Clapper said the property had been owned by her family for over 20 years and indicated she has no interest in moving on from the property.

"This is for myself and my future generations," Clapper said, “I don’t want to see it sit vacant anymore.”

For many years, the restaurant had contained Bill Bateman's. After Bateman's closed, the restaurant was briefly occupied by another, the Broken Clock, which closed in 2018.

“I would love to see a restaurant in this shopping center," Clapper said.

Ultimately, after a vote by the Board of Commissioners, the commissioners approved a resolution for the LLC to apply to the Liquor control board for the economic development license.

Harrison Jones is the Hanover reporter for the Evening Sun. Reach him at hjones@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Hanover Evening Sun: Could this Penn Township, Pa. site get a new liquor license?