An Act Concerning the Issuance of a Temporary Liquor License
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0466
Committee: Legal and Veterans Affairs
Sponsors: COWGER, GAGNON, BULL, BUNKER, COLLINS, JODREY, KOFFMAN, THOMPSON, HALL, MAYO
Amends: 28-A MRSA §653, 28-A MRSA §1051

Legislative Document 
No. 466 
H.P.358 
House of Representatives, February 4,2003 
An Act Concerning the Issuance of a Temporary Liquor License 
Reference to the Committee on Legal and Veterans Affairs suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative COWGER of Hallowell. 
Cosponsored by Senator GAGNON of Kennebec and 
If/~ 
/J7.7l!dC~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: BULL of Freeport, BUNKER of Kossuth Township, COLLINS of Wells, 
JODREY of Bethel, KOFFMAN of Bar Harbor, THOMPSON of China, Senators: HALL of 
Lincoln, MAYO of Sagadahoc. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 28-A MRSA §653, sub-§I, as amended by PL 200L c. 500, 
§l, is further amended to read: 
1. 
Hearings. 
The municipal officers or, in the case of 
unincorporated places, the county commissioners of the county in 
which the unincorporated place is located, 
sRa±± 
may hold 
a 
public hearing for the consideration of applications 
for 
new 
9a-FFemise on-premises licenses and applications for transfer of 
location 
of 
existing 
9a-FFemise 
on-premises 
licenses. 
The 
municipal officers or county commissioners 
may hold 
a 
public 
hearing 
for 
the 
consideration 
of 
requests 
for 
renewal 
of 
licenses, except that when an applicant has held a license for 
the prior 5 years and a complaint has not been filed against the 
applicant within that time, the applicant may request a waiver of 
the hearing. 
A. 
The bureau shall prepare and supply application forms. 
B. 
The municipal officers or the county commissioners, as 
the case may be, shall provide public notice of any hearing 
held 
under 
this 
section 
by 
causing 
a 
notice, 
at 
the 
applicant I s prepaid expense, stating the name and place of 
hearing, to appear on at least 3 consecutive days before the 
date 
of 
hearing 
In 
a 
daily 
newspaper 
having 
general 
circulation in 
the 
municipality 
where 
the 
premises 
are 
located or one week before the date of the hearing in a 
weekly 
newspaper 
having 
general 
circulation 
in 
the 
municipality where the premises are located. 
c. 
If the municipal officers or the county commissioners, 
as 
the 
case 
may 
be, 
fail 
to 
take 
final 
action 
on 
an 
application for a new 9a-FFemise on-premises licenser-feF or 
transfer 
of 
the 
location 
of 
an 
existing 
eH-FFemise 
on-premises license within 
days 
of the filing of 
an 
application, the application is deemed approved and ready 
for action by the bureau. 
For purposes of this paragraph, 
the date of filing of the application is the date the 
application is received by the municipal officers or county 
commissioners. 
This paragraph applies to all applications 
pending before municipal officers or county commissioners as 
of the effective date of this paragraph as well as all 
applications filed on or after the effective date of this 
paragraph. 
This paragraph applies to an existing 9H-FFemise 
on-premises license that has been extended pending renewal. 
The municipal officers or the county commissioners shall 
take final action on an eH-FFemise on-premises license that 
has been extended pending renewal wi thin 120 days of the 
filing of the application. 
Page l-LR0913(1) 
• 
• 
D. 
If an application is approved by the municipal officers 
or the county commissioners but the bureau finds, 
after 
inspection of the premises and the records of the applicant, 
that the applicant does not qualify for the class of license 
applied for, the bureau shall notify the applicant of that 
fact in writing. 
The bureau shall give the applicant 30 
days to file an 
amended application for 
the appropriate 
class of license, accompanied by any additional license fee, 
wi th the municipal officers or county commissioners, as the 
case may be. 
If the applicant fails to fi Ie an amended 
application within 30 days, the original application must be 
denied by the bureau. 
The bureau shall notify the applicant 
in writing of its decision to deny the application including 
the reasons for the denial and the rights of appeal of the 
applicant. 
Sec. 2. 28-A MRSA §1051, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1999, c. 
421, §6, is further amended to read: 
2. 
Local approval of application for license. 
Except for 
licenses 
issued 
pursuant 
to 
section 
1063-A, 
the 
initial 
application for the license must first be approved under section 
by the municipal officers of the municipality in which the 
applicant's premises are located or, if the premises are located 
in an unincorporated place, the application must be approved by 
the 
county 
commissioners 
of 
the 
county 
within 
which 
the 
unincorporated place is locatedL 
except that in the case of a new 
license resulting from a transfer of ownership of an existing 
on-premises licensee, the bureau, after notifying the municipal 
officers or county commissioners, may issue a temporary license 
for up to 60 days from. the date of transfer of ownership of the 
licensed premises. 
SUMMARY 
This bill permits 
the 
Department 
of 
Administrative 
and 
Financial Services, 
Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages to issue 
a 
temporary liquor license for up to 
days 
from the date of 
transfer 
of 
ownership 
of 
an 
existing, 
licensed, 
on-premises 
establishment.