Why Easthampton's Next Restaurant May Be Waiting on Beacon Hill

Easthampton has no liquor licenses left to give. The last open one was awarded this summer, and the city asked the Legislature for eight more. The bill now on the State Senate calendar doesn't create eight new licenses. It brings back a batch the state approved in March 2020, and those licenses already come with a map. Wherever Easthampton's next restaurant with a full bar opens, the location was mostly decided by a zoning map from January 2015.

That shapes the next few years of local dining more than any single opening does.

The last license went to a karaoke room

Chickadee Karaoke Rooms opened at 24 Cottage St. on June 25, 2026. It has four private, sound-resistant rooms. At its July 13 meeting, the city's Licensing Board conditionally approved Chickadee's application for the one open license, pending payment of the fee. The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported that owner James Crawford plans to serve prepackaged alcoholic drinks along with nonalcoholic ones. He told the paper that nightlife isn't his only market and that he also wants to offer an experience for families in the afternoon.

The license became available because the Polish Pulaski Club at 79 Maple St. lost it on Dec. 31, 2025, after the city's Licensing Board denied renewal over back property taxes. The same Gazette article reports the club has since paid what it owed to the city and the state and fully intends to reopen. Board President Candy Laflam told the paper there wasn't enough time between the club securing a loan on June 26 and the July 13 meeting to file a complete new application.

That left a club that wanted a license and was in compliance, with nothing to apply for. City officials told the Gazette in March that Easthampton holds 31 on-premises licenses and nine off-premises licenses. State law caps that number. A new license comes from one of two places: an existing holder gives one up, or the Legislature grants more.

The 2020 licenses came with a map

The Legislature has granted Easthampton more licenses before. Chapter 46 of the Acts of 2020, approved March 25, 2020, let the city issue 13 licenses outside the state quota. Each one is assigned to one of three development zones "as those areas are defined by the city's zoning map, as it existed of January, 2015." Each must be marked on its face with its district.

Three conditions in the law decide where these licenses can be used and by whom:

1. They stay in their district. The licensing board can't approve moving one out of the district it was first granted to. It can regrant one to a new applicant inside the same district if that applicant shows good standing with the state Department of Revenue and the Department of Unemployment Assistance.
2. They're built for restaurants. The drink-on-premises licenses can only be used "in the dining room of a common victualler," meaning a licensed food business, plus any other public rooms the board approves in writing.
3. They come back to the city. If a license is surrendered, not renewed, revoked or stops being used at its original location, it goes back to the board to be regranted under the same conditions.

In 2020, the Gazette reported that the city had asked for 14 licenses. One off-premises wine-and-malt license was cut during the legislative process. Then-Rep. Dan Carey described the effort as a way "to keep new development coming into town."

Then the deadline caught up with them. The act required every license to be issued within three years of its effective date. That was March 25, 2023. A license granted in time could later pass to a new applicant, but any license never issued by then could no longer be granted. The approval came just before the COVID-19 shutdowns. Mayor Salem Derby told the Gazette in March 2026 that nearly all of them were lost. "They were already approved and issued. We just need to see if we can get them back," he said, adding, "It's kind of unclear at the moment." His count was 14. The law as signed says 13. No published source gives an exact count of how many were issued in time.

Beacon Hill rewrote the request

Derby's 2026 proposal was a fresh start. He asked for eight new all-alcohol licenses, the kind restaurants usually use. "That could be eight new restaurants and we pretty much have the capacity between Union, Main, maybe even Cottage, [streets] and the Mills and Route 10," he told the Gazette. The City Council approved the home-rule request at its April 8 meeting, unanimously with one abstention. Rep. Homar Gómez filed it as House Bill 5445, which was written to allow up to eight all-alcohol licenses.

Here's what has happened on Beacon Hill since then, according to the Legislature's bill history:

• June 23, 2026: H.5445 gets its hearing before the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure. Derby testifies.
• July 6: The committee reports a new draft, H.5547, in its place.
• August 20: The House passes H.5547 to be engrossed.
• August 24: The Senate places it in the Orders of the Day.
• October 8: The Senate gives it a second reading and orders it to a third reading.

The new draft's title is "An Act extending the timeframe for the issuance of licenses granted pursuant to Chapter 46 of the Acts of 2020 in the city of Easthampton." The text runs two sections. It removes the three-year deadline in the 2020 act, replaces it with "on or before January 1, 2030," and takes effect upon passage. It doesn't add any licenses. Read alongside the 2020 act, it reopens issuance of the original 13. The district markings, the dining-room condition and the rule that licenses stay in their district all remain in force. The bill doesn't touch any of them.

That's Derby's "get them back" idea from March, not the eight-license request the council voted on in April. None of the sources explains why the committee changed the bill. As of today, Oct. 12, H.5547 sits with the Senate Committee on Bills in the Third Reading. It hasn't passed the Senate or been signed by the governor.

If it becomes law, the next full-bar licenses will be split among downtown, the mills and the highway business zone in the proportions shown in the table. The take-out license would go to the Highway Business District. Anyone who wants one will need a food license to go with it.

What can move while the Senate waits

Until then, licenses change hands within the existing pool, and the board's recent agendas show it.

The July 13 minutes record a message saying Community Food Engine would close in September 2026, sell its assets and transfer its license. The business asked how long it could hold the license after closing. That prompted a question at the meeting about whether the local board or the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission sets that limit. The board added the procedure for surrendering a license to its next agenda. The September 14 agenda listed "Transfer of license – Bea Rich Foods Inc." under new business. The posted agendas don't say how either matter was decided.

The other route is special one-day licenses. The October 5 agenda lists a request from the Pulaski Club for 10 of them, plus one-day requests from New City Brewery and Tip Top Wine Shop. Back in July, the club told the Gazette it would try to get one-day licenses for certain events while it works toward reopening.

The city's fee schedule puts an all-alcohol license at $1,563 for 2026 and $1,663 for 2027, plus application fees. At that price, the supply is set by the number of licenses that exist. The 2020 act puts that limit on a map, and H.5547 would leave the map as it is.

The Licensing Board meets at 4 p.m. on the first Monday of each month. That makes the November and December agendas the place to look for the first applications if the Senate acts. The state also requires existing licenses to apply for renewal before Nov. 30 each year.

If you own a building on Union, Main or Cottage Street, in the mills or along Route 10, it helps to know which of the three 2020 districts your address falls in, whether you're thinking about leasing to a restaurant, buying a space for one or just judging what the storefront next door could become. Shelly Hardy works with small-business owners and investors on downtown and mixed-use property across Easthampton and can walk you through how these rules affect a particular space. Schedule a free consultation.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.