Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Needham Looks to Lift Its "Dry Town" Status

A western suburb of Boston that has basically been a dry town since Prohibition may be getting ready to consider loosening the rules a bit.

According to The Boston Globe, folks in Needham could soon be voting on whether to allow alcohol to be sold in stores, and if so, whether package stores could sell all types of alcohol or just beer and wine, and whether supermarkets could sell beer and wine in addition to wine and cheese shops doing so. (The article mentions that there may be other options as well.)

Currently, Needham is mostly--though not completely--dry, with one bar in town (inside the Sheraton hotel) and restaurants with capacities of over 100 being allowed full liquor licenses (smaller restaurants can get beer and wine licenses, but not full liquor licenses).

[November 8 update: The Boston Globe is reporting that Needham voters have supported--by a wide margin--a ballot question allowing the retail sale of ­alcohol. The article states that a total of six liquor licenses will be available to stores, with two more licenses coming in 2018.]

For more information on this story, please go to the Boston Globe link below.

Needham considers store sales of alcohol