This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in August 2023. A pdf version can be found here.
All licensees of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) are mandated to maintain the licenses issued to them by complying with statutory requirements that apply to their specific license, such as having seating for 30 patrons. Licensees may find the numerous requirements to be onerous, but compliance with the PA Liquor Code and the PLCB regulations are a must; a license is a privilege between the licensee and the PCLB.
Depending on the type of PLCB license held, the Liquor Code and the regulations may require a licensee to hold a specific license or permit issued by the local municipality where the license premises is located.
Restaurant liquor and eating place dispenser licensees must maintain a health/food/sanitation permit/license issued by the local municipality in order to sell and serve food on the licensed premises. Failure to possess a current food/health license is a violation of the Liquor Code and the PLCB regulations.
Licensees simply must have the food/health license. Remember the names of the licenses are “Retail Restaurant Liquor License” and ”Eating Place Dispenser,” so there is food involved to hold these licenses.
Licensees can easily overlook the annual renewal of their food license simply by human error, or they might have had their health/food license suspended by the municipality for having unsanitary premises or for a failure to file various municipal taxes. Whatever the reason, the failure to possess a current health/food license has a major impact on the licensee’s business. A licensee may not operate the licensed business until the health permit has been renewed or restored. Therefore, without the municipal health permit the licensee must stop selling food and alcoholic beverages.
Should the PA State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement discover (usually through a compliance check of the licensee’s premises) that the licensee does not possess this critical license the situation escalates, and the PA State Police will issue a citation for operating without the health permit. The penalty for the violation is usually a fine or may involve a suspension of the PLCB license. The citation will be a record on the licensee’s history.
The licensee’s legal troubles do not end with the payment of the citation fine. The Board has the legal authority to object to the renewal of the liquor license based upon the past citation for not having the required health permit. The charge will be that the licensee has abused its licensing privilege and the individuals involved are no longer persons of good repute. The Board will hold a hearing based on that objection, which may very well be the only objection. Thereafter the Board will render a decision whether or not to renew the liquor license.
Licensees, to avoid incurring the violation due to an oversight must employ a system that acts as a reminder to renew the required local permits to avoid being ensnared in a long costly legal process for not having the permit. Should the health permit be revoked for having unsanitary premises, or the health permit withheld because of delinquent taxes, licensees must stop operations until the health permit is restored.
This is but one example of a PLCB license which is required to have an ancillary permit. Each PLCB license may have similar required permits. Licensees should consult with their attorney as to the specific requirements needed for their particular license issued by the PLCB.
