Town Meeting member wants bar roll back on Saugus agenda

SAUGUS – Despite the legal challenges in Lynn and the promise of legal action in Revere, Town Meeting member Raymond Lawrence would like to see the town pursue rolling back closing time for bars.”I want it done,” he said. “I want the hours rolled back.”The Revere Licensing Commission voted last Thursday to roll back the closing time for bars and alcohol serving establishments to 1 a.m. The move prompted bar owners to promise a legal fight.In Lynn, the Licensing Board voted to roll closing times back to 1 a.m. as of Jan 1, which has lead to repeated legal actions by the bar owners.Lawrence said Saugus should follow suit and roll its hours back to 1 a.m. as well.His argument is that with hours rolled back in Lynn and Revere, Saugus would become a last-stop watering hole for North Shore drinkers.But Selectman Peter Rossetti said it was his understanding that the board could not arbitrarily decide to roll the hours back without a reason.Lynn officials argued that rolling back the hours was a safety issue and it would reduce drunken driving incidents and bar brawls.Lawrence said his reasoning is based on the fact that the town doesn’t have the manpower to deal with the potential incidents.”Look at the amount of police Lynn has and they can’t control things,” he said. “Revere has a lot of officers too and they rolled back their hours.”Lawrence said considering the town has one of the smallest police departments around, “How could we control the problems when all the towns around us are rolling their hours back? There are bound to be people coming here for a last drink.”Lawrence said he plans on enlisting the support of local groups such as Saugus Speaks Out, although he knows there are at least a few selectmen that aren’t likely to support his bid.Lawrence said that Board Chairman Donald Wong, whose family owns Kowloon, would probably not support the idea. However, since Wong holds a liquor license and would be affected by the change, it is unlikely he would be allowed to vote on the issue.Selectman Stephen Horlick said previously he would prefer to wait until the legal situations play out in Lynn and Revere before Saugus tackles it and Rossetti agreed.