This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in January 2023. A pdf version can be found here.
Q. I am closing my restaurant for extensive renovations. We expect to be closed for about three months. Do I have to notify the PLCB that the restaurant will be closed?
A. Yes. Whenever your licensed establishment will be closed for 15 days or more, regardless of the reason for the closure, you must place your license into safekeeping with the PLCB. You do this by notifying the PLCB online at PLCB+, stating the reason why you are closing and providing the name and address of the contact person to whom mail is to be sent while the licensed premises are closed. The license is then held in “safekeeping” with the PLCB until such time as the licensed premises reopen or until the license is transferred. In order to have the license released from safekeeping, the licensee must file an Application for Release of License from Safekeeping with the PLCB online at PLCB+ and pay the required fee.
The PLCB will send a letter acknowledging the safekeeping and the date when the safekeeping period ends. A license placed into safekeeping will only be held for a maximum of two years. After that time, the license will be revoked or terminated by the PLCB. The licensee, in order to avoid the revocation of the license, must extend the safekeeping period beyond the initial two-year period by filing an application with the PLCB for an additional one-year period. This safekeeping extension application must be accompanied by a filing fee, the amount of which depends upon the county where the license is located. Licenses placed in safekeeping from counties of the 1st class, 2nd class, 2nd class A, 3rd, and 4th classes, have a fee of $10,000 and counties of the 5th through 8th classes have a fee of $5,000. Now, for each year past the first safekeeping extension year those fees are doubled: $10,000 to $20,000 and $5,000 to $10,000. For each additional year those fees are again doubled, so the $20,000 paid in year four becomes $40,000. The doubling of the safekeeping fees continues for each additional year applied for. Obviously, maintaining a license in safekeeping beyond the two years will become expensive.
Club licensees are treated differently. Clubs may only keep the license in safekeeping for a maximum of two years. There is no extension of the two-year safekeeping period provided in the law. Should the club license not be activated within the two-year period the PLCB legally must revoke the club license.
The PLCB may waive the fees to extend the safekeeping period for additional years if, at the end of the two-year period, the licensed premises is not available due to fire, flood, or loss of an occupancy permit or other circumstances which are specifically outside the licensee’s control.
The extension application, along with the appropriate fees, must be filed with the board prior to the expiration of the two-year safekeeping period. Failure to do so will result in the termination of the license.
Note that while the license is in safekeeping with the PLCB, the licensee is still obligated to renew or validate the license with the PLCB, file any tax reports with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and pay the tax due on the reports in order to obtain the necessary state tax clearances.
You should consult with your attorney regarding the license safekeeping procedure since a license is too valuable of an asset to risk losing.
