Alcohol sale license applicants decline

Booze hounds in the Commonwealth have lost scores of places to tie one on, according to a newly released tally from the CNMI Department of Commerce of establishments licensed to sell alcohol—a sign of the ongoing downturn in the local economy.

Commerce disclosed in a statement Wednesday that 149 vendors previously granted alcohol sales licenses missed the June 30 deadline for renewing them. Among those, 79 appear to have closed for business; 532 licensees submitted their renewal applications on time.

In an interview last month, Commerce Secretary James Santos noted the decline in license renewals, saying it reflects the current “weakness in the economy.” Commerce Deputy Secretary Michael Ada said the drop signals a potential enforcement issue for Commerce’s alcohol licensing regulators

“It raises a red flag for us because, as not that many businesses are coming back to renew, there’s this question of how many are selling alcohol on an expired license,” Ada said, adding that Commerce is consequently poised to “beef up” its inspections of alcohol vendors.

“There are some establishments that we’re really eyeing,” he said. “The community has really been good about giving us information.”

By law, any establishment that fails to renew its license to sell alcohol faces an automatic one-month license suspension of it, according to Commerce’s statement. However, those establishments can win a renewal of their licenses this month, which would become effective in August. Regulators are now conducting inspections of the establishments that failed to renew their licenses and are serving them with suspension notices.

Whether the decline seen in alcohol licensing will extend to stores that sell tobacco products remains to be seen. Currently, 141 tobacco sales licenses issued in 2007 are up for their renewal, which is done on a rolling basis starting from when Commerce issued the license, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, Commerce noted that many businesses are appealing to the government for relief from the required suspension of their licenses they will face after failing to renew them, saying most would prefer instead to pay a fee.

The license suspension “is definitely a losing situation for both the businesses and the government, considering our present economic condition,” the statement says, adding that Commerce’s alcohol regulators have submitted a proposal to the Legislature to address the issue.