Summary
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court affirmed the Chester County Court of Common Pleas order directing the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to issue Myles Development Company, LLC an Economic Development Restaurant Liquor License. The court held that the applicant had exhausted reasonable means of obtaining a quota-system license and that the proposed premises' proximity to another licensed establishment did not require denial of the application.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether substantial evidence supported the trial court's finding that the applicant exhausted reasonable means to obtain a suitable liquor license within Chester County's quota system.
- Whether the presence of another licensed establishment within 200 feet of the proposed premises automatically authorized denial of the Economic Development Restaurant Liquor License application or otherwise required denial when the trial court conducted de novo review.
Holdings
- The applicant satisfied the requirement to exhaust reasonable means for obtaining a suitable license because it contacted the relevant licensees, including licensees with licenses in safekeeping, and was not required to make futile offers to purchase licenses that were unavailable as standalone commodities or to purchase an entire business and additional real estate.
- The presence of another licensed establishment within 200 feet did not automatically disqualify the application. On de novo review, the trial court had discretion under the Liquor Code to determine whether the proximity warranted denial, and it properly exercised that discretion by affirming the application where the record contained no evidence of harm to the community.
Key quotations
“Applying Section 3.105(e)(2) as suggested by the PLCB would lead to the absurd result of requiring an applicant to offer to purchase a license in safekeeping that is not available as a standalone commodity.” (12)
“In concluding that the presence of another licensed premises within 200 feet of Applicant's premises was not a basis for denying its application, the trial court exercised the discretion afforded to it under a de novo standard of review.” (17)
Factual background
Myles Development Company sought an Economic Development Restaurant Liquor License for a proposed fine-dining restaurant in West Chester Borough, where the county quota for liquor licenses had been exceeded. The applicant contacted all restaurant liquor licensees in Chester County, including licensees whose licenses were in safekeeping, but the responding licensees would sell their licenses only with the associated businesses and, in some cases, real estate. The applicant also investigated license auctions but did not pursue licenses outside West Chester because evidence showed that the Borough generally refused intermunicipal transfers. The proposed premises were approximately 60 feet from another licensed establishment, Barnaby's, but there was no evidence that the additional license would harm the neighborhood, and the Borough Council approved the application for local economic development.
Procedural history
Myles Development Company applied to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board for an Economic Development Restaurant Liquor License. The Board denied the application, finding that the applicant had not exhausted reasonable means of obtaining a license within the county quota system and also relying on the proposed premises' proximity to another licensed establishment. The Chester County Court of Common Pleas conducted a de novo hearing, reversed the Board's denial, and ordered issuance of the license. The Commonwealth Court affirmed.