It won't be first come first serve for Boston's new liquor licenses

The Boston Licensing Board says it will be accepting applications through Dec. 6 for the 66 new "neighborhood" restaurant liquor licenses and the 4 new anywhere licenses it now has the authority to issue over the coming year.

But at a hearing yesterday, officials said nobody will be getting one of the new licenses immediately, because the city wants to ensure as many of the licenses go to people who might not otherwise have ever thought they could get the potentially profitable ability to offer alcohol to patrons - even including people who might not have even opened a restaurant yet.

After holding hearings for each of the applications, the board will then hold voting sessions on groups of applicants for each of the 13 eligible Zip codes

Last month, Gov. Healey signed a bill giving Boston a total of 225 new alcohol licenses, to be doled out in three sets over the next three years. Most of the licenses - 195 of them - are "neighborhood" licenses restricted to 13 specific Zip codes, with another 3 set aside for Brighton's Oak Square, in a nod to House Majority Leader and Brighton resident Michael Moran, who had fought past efforts to get Boston more licenses. These licenses, to be split between licenses to serve all kinds of alcohol and licenses for just beer and wine, cannot be resold on the open market and have to be returned to the city when their holders close down.

Another 15 licenses will be reserved for designated "community" or non-profit sites, while 12 will be licenses that can be used anywhere in the city and can be re-sold on the open market - potentially making them worth up to $600,000 the moment one of them is awarded.

The city does not charge anything for awarding a license, although it does levy annual fees based on the number of seats.

Licensing Board Chairwoman Kathleen Joyce said the board's already gotten 16 applications since Sept. 1. The board also has applications it had approved earlier in the year "pending the availability" of a license.

Segun Idowu, the city's chief of economic opportunity and inclusion, said East Boston in particular is "showing intense interest," but that applications have come from across the city. The Zip codes eligible for the new neighborhood licenses: 02118, 02119, 02121, 02122, 02124, 02125, 02126, 02128, 02129, 02130, 02131, 02132 and 02136.

Joyce outlined the process of applying for a license. It starts with filling out an online application, then requires coordinating with the city Office of Neighborhood Services to hold a meeting in the neighborhood, followed by a hearing before the licensing board, at which the applicant has to, among other things, explain the "public need" for the license he or she wants.

Once the board has gone through hearings on all the applications before Dec. 6, it will then review the neighborhood ones by Zip code and then choose winners for the year's three all-alcohol and two beer-and-wine licenses, she said. She added that applications stay active for a year, so people who lose out will be automatically enrolled for next year's selection.

Idowu added the board will use a similar process for the four unrestricted licenses; he said the city wants to make sure would-be license holders beyond the national chains and well established chefs that can afford today's liquor-license prices get a shot at what would instantly become their holders' most valuable asset, which they could use as collateral for loans or sell.

At the hearing, chaired by City Councilor Brian Worrell (Dorchester) - who started and led the fight to get the city its first major new number of alcohol licenses in a decade - officials said they have already started multi-lingual campaigns to help guide people through the complicated licensing process who might not have or be able to afford one of the small group of local lawyers who specialize in the sometimes labyrinthine licensing process. Officials are even considering going door to door in areas such as Mattapan and Roxbury to advise existing restaurant owners of the potential opportunity.

Worrell began pushing for new liquor licenses as a way of increasing economic opportunity in neighborhoods where would-be restaurant operators can't afford $600,000 to buy a full liquor license - or even the $200,000 a beer-and-wine license now fetches - such as Mattapan, which currently has just one restaurant and one nightclub with liquor licenses.

"It's actually a cocktail of success of economic development if we get this right," Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, not normally given to puns, said.