Boston Concessions Group, Inc. v. Logan Township Board of Supervisors

815 A.2d 8, 2002 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 977
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 10, 2002
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 815 A.2d 8 (Boston Concessions Group, Inc. v. Logan Township Board of Supervisors) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boston Concessions Group, Inc. v. Logan Township Board of Supervisors, 815 A.2d 8, 2002 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 977 (Pa. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinions

OPINION BY

Senior Judge JIULIANTE.

The Logan Township Board of Supervisors (Board) appeals from the January 7, 2002 order of the Court of Common Pleas of Blair County (trial court) that reversed the Board’s order denying an application on behalf of Boston Concessions Group, Inc. (BCG) seeking an intermunicipal transfer of a liquor license pursuant to Section 461(b.3) of the Liquor Code (Code).1 We affirm.

BCG is a Massachusetts-based company that operates food and beverage concessions at different venues in approximately thirty states. Those venues include, inter alia, movie theaters, college and professional sporting events, ski and summer resorts, various tourist attractions and other special events. BCG is the sole food and beverage concessionaire at Lakemont Park (Lakemont), a family amusement park located in Logan Township (Township), Blair County.

BCG is in the process of attempting to obtain a liquor license in order to sell alcoholic beverages at catered events at Lakemont. On June 22, 2001, BCG filed an application under Section 461(b.3) of the Code, seeking to transfer a liquor license from the City of Altoona to the Township. Section 461(b.3) provides:

An intermunicipal transfer of a license ... must first be approved by the governing body of the receiving municipality when the total number of existing restaurant liquor licenses and eating place retail dispenser licenses exceed one license per three thousand inhabitants. Upon request for approval of an intermunicipal transfer of a license ... by an applicant, at least one public hearing shall be held by the municipal governing body for the purpose of receiving comments and recommendations of interested individuals residing within the municipality concerning the applicant’s intent to transfer a license into the municipality. ... The municipality must approve the request unless it finds that doing so would adversely affect the welfare, health, peace and morals of the municipality or its residents. A decision by the governing body of the municipality to deny the request may be appealed to the court of common pleas in the county in which the municipality is [10]*10located. A copy of the approval must be submitted with the license application.

47 P.S. § 4-461(b.3) (emphasis added).

On July 26, 2001, a public hearing was held on BCG’s application. BCG presented evidence in support of it application for transfer. Several members of the public, as well as a representative of a Township liquor license holder wishing to sell its license, voiced opposition to BCG’s application.

BCG presented evidence that if its liquor license application was eventually approved by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB), it would curtail Lakemont’s current practice of permitting the unsupervised consumption of alcoholic beverages by patrons who bring their own alcoholic beverages into the park. Rather, BCG would implement, a system where alcohol sales would be limited to certain fenced-in open-air pavilions and where individuals who wished to purchase alcohol would have to wear wristbands.

Three witnesses testified in opposition to BCG’s application.2 In addition, the Blair County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), as well as the parents of a teenager killed in a drunk driving accident, expressed opposition to the sale of alcohol in a family-oriented amusement park. The Township’s police chief also expressed concerns about BCG’s promise to maintain security. The police chief also introduced into evidence a survey of the policies of several other Pennsylvania amusement parks.3

Following the hearing, the Board issued Resolution No. 07-26-01 disapproving BCG’s application based on the Board’s finding that the transfer of the liquor license would adversely affect the welfare, health, peace and morals of the residents of the Township and the public in general. The Board subsequently issued written findings of fact and conclusions of law in support of its resolution.

BCG appealed to the trial court on the ground that the Board’s decision was not supported by substantial evidence. The trial court noted that the patrons of Lak-emont are currently permitted to bring their own alcoholic beverages with them for consumption on park premises. The trial court further noted that with two exceptions, the objections to BCG’s application were generic in nature and could have been raised in opposition to the transfer of any liquor license within any jurisdiction. Citing In re Medred, 210 Pa.Super. 249, 232 A.2d 203 (1967), the trial court reasoned that inasmuch as the Board’s disapproval was essentially based on the wishes of the objectors rather than any evidence indicating that the license would be detrimental to the welfare, health, peace and morals of the Township residents, the Board’s resolution was not supported by substantial evidence.

The trial court did address the two objections specifically related to license [11]*11transfer at issue, i e., (1) that the introduction of alcoholic beverages to Lakemont, a family amusement park, would be detrimental to the children in attendance; and (2), that the addition of another liquor license in the Township would have an adverse economic effect on the existing liquor licensees in the Township. With regard to the first objection, the trial court noted that Lakemont patrons are already permitted to bring their own alcoholic beverages with them. With regard to the second objection, the trial court noted that the issue of whether the license transfer would have an adverse economic affect on the current Township liquor licensees is not a consideration under Section 461 (b,3) of the Code.

Having determined that the Boai'd’s findings of fact were not supported by substantial evidence and that the license transfer would not adversely affect the welfare, health, peace and morals of the Township residents, the trial court reversed the Board’s disapproval of the license transfer.

The Township appealed. Recently, in SSEN, Inc. v. Borough Council of the Borough of Eddystone, 810 A.2d 200, (Pa.Cmwlth.2002), this Court, in an en banc decision, determined that inasmuch as municipalities are local agencies to which the Local Agency Law (LAL), 2 Pa.C.S. §§ 551-555, 751-754, applies, appellate review of decisions made by municipalities approving or disapproving applications for the transfer of intermunicipal liquor licenses pursuant to Section 461(b.3) of the Code is governed by Section 754 of the LAL, 2 Pa.C.S. § 754. Pursuant to Section 102 of the Code, a municipality “shall mean any city, borough, incorporated town, or township of this Commonwealth.” 47 P.S. § 1-102.

Therefore, under Section 754(b) of the LAL, 2 Pa.C.S. § 754(b), where a full and complete record of the proceedings has been made before the local agency, the trial court may reverse the agency’s decision if the agency’s findings of fact were not supported by substantial evidence, an error of law was committed, constitutional rights were violated, or the procedure before the agency was contrary to statute. SSEN, 810 A.2d at 207. Such is the case here.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
815 A.2d 8, 2002 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 977, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boston-concessions-group-inc-v-logan-township-board-of-supervisors-pacommwct-2002.