MARVIN MANDEL, Governor

2795

A brief review of the existing restrictions on
liquor licenses in Baltimore City may be helpful:

1.     Board Rule No. 2.08, adopted December 31, 1968
and amended November 13, 1969, placed a moratorium on the
granting of new liquor licenses in Baltimore City, with
certain exceptions. In order to obtain a license for a
new location, an existing license must be transferred.
However, the distance between the existing and proposed
locations cannot exceed one mile, unless the transfer is
into a location that already possesses a license. The
existing license at the proposed location must then be
cancelled. The regulation also requires a showing that
the transfer is for the public convenience and will not
disturb the new area.

There were 2,318 licenses in December of 1968.
As of March, 1976, there were 1,856, a reduction of
twenty percent in less than eight years.

2.    Article 2B, Section 46A provides that a new
license may not be granted to a location having a
nonconforming use within an area zoned as "residential".

3.    Article 2B, Section 46B provides that a
license may not be granted if the location of the
licensee is within a certain distance of a church or a
school, with certain exceptions.

4.    With certain exceptions, a new license may   not
be issued to a location within the area bounded     by
Twenty—Fifth Street, Center Street, Howard Street,   and
Guilford Avenue.

5.    The Board has further informed me that many
locations with existing licenses have been taken for
public use by the federal. State, and City governments.

The cumulative effect of these restrictions and
limitations in Baltimore City is typical of the puzzle
which is known as "Article 2B — Alcoholic Beverages".
Although the local board of license commissioners is
authorized to regulate the issuance of liquor licenses
within its jurisdiction, that power is reduced by the
exceptions, limitations, restrictions, provisos, and
conditions placed upon the general rule. Each of these
may be further limited, depending upon the type of
license to be issued, the jurisdiction, the specific area
within the jurisdiction, and type of business requesting
a license, the proprietors, and other factors.

Although the purpose of the many provisions of
article 2B is quite proper, their application has become
extremely complex and progressively limited, producing,
in some cases, unfair and probably unintended results.