Revere commission to weigh closing time

REVERE – The License Commission meets Thursday to hear the pros and cons of moving the 2 a.m. alcohol serving closing time back an hour, but it will probably not vote to accept or reject the proposal until February.Commission Chairman Michael Pepe said the 5:30 p.m. City Hall hearing could fill the City Council Chamber with residents, bar owners and elected officials or leave Pepe and his two commission colleagues looking out on empty seats.”I hope people let their voice be heard so that the commission can take the pulse out there,” Pepe said.Lynn’s Licensing Board held three hearings last fall before voting on Dec. 19 to roll back closing times in that city from 2 a.m. to 1 a.m. effective Jan. 2.Liquor serving establishments are obeying the rollback while challenging it in court. They argued before the board that a large volume of their business is transacted between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m.But rollback proponents, including Lynn Police Chief John Suslak, called the 2 a.m. closing time a magnet for drunken drivers and rowdy drinkers looking to get in a fight.Pepe said he will probably ask fellow members Thomas Henneberry and Linda Guinasso at the conclusion of Thursday’s hearing to keep the record open on the rollback question for 10 days so that supporters and opponents can submit their opinions in writing at City Hall.He said the commission will vote on the 1 a.m. closing time in late January or at a meeting in February.Licensing Board records indicate 24 out of 47 establishments holding all alcoholic beverage licenses currently stay open until 2 a.m. but commission restrictions on license renewals and disciplinary action has halved the number who actually close at 2 a.m.After the Lynn Licensing Board voted in October to impose a rollback, Mayor Thomas Ambrosino raised concerns about Revere becoming “the lone community” on Boston’s northern border with a 2 a.m. serving time.Police Chief Terence Reardon plans to bring reports detailing early morning calls to police to Thursday’s hearing.