Sudbury Police Chief Taps into Making Liquor License Changes

Sudbury Police Chief Scott Nix wants his department to be more active in making compliance checks with businesses that hold a liquor license.

That was among the many changes to the current laws he proposed to the Board of Selectmen, which is the liquor license authority in town, during its Oct. 1 meeting.

Nix said the changes would give the town consistency when responding to liquor license violations.

"Consistency and clarity is an important part of our ability to enforce them," said Nix.

One of the inconsistencies that Nix discussed was in regards to serving alcohol after a kitchen has closed.

"Some establishments require service of food to stay open later," he said. "But there are different levels of what that is. Certain businesses close their kitchen at 9:30, but serve alcohol until midnight. We don’t want to be the food police, but it would be beneficial to have some food service with alcohol to mitigate certain effects."

Selectman Larry O'Brien agreed there should be a food stipulation.

"The food issue I think is important because I think depending on the establishment it’s very different," he said. "The kitchen capacity changes dramatically."

Another revision was a "look back" timetable of 36 months for businesses facing penalties.

"Every establishment of my 20 years on the force has had a violation (for being open) after hours," Nix said. "We did have circumstances the last couple years with other dynamics, where officers on the street or the chief have issued a warning. This now, if (it's deemed) egregious, or something so contrary to public safety, you can discipline right away. It gives you discretion depending on the offense."

So far this year, the Selectmen have dealt with four violations, the most recent happening on Sept. 13 at Soul of India. Because it was the restaurant's first violation, the Board voted to give only a warning.

The revisions Nix recommended would give the Board a larger scope when issuing warnings and penalties to liquor license holders.