Falls OKs Liquor License Transfer to Convenience Store

Pending approval from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, Falls Township could be home to another restaurant liquor license.

On Monday, the Falls Supervisors voted 3-1 in favor of permitting the inter municipal liquor license transfer from Middletown Township to the Country Farm convenience store at 91 Makefield Road in the Shoppes at Makefield Village. Supervisor Erin Mullen cast the lone no vote. Supervisor Jeff Boraski was absent.

The convenience store, which has been in operation for 20 years at that location, intends to sell beer and possibly wine, according to attorney Dave Berger. If the restaurant liquor license receives all necessary approvals, the store would operate primarily as a takeout retailer for alcohol sales. However, a restaurant liquor license requires a licensee to permit onsite consumption of alcohol as well, similar to the in-store dining and alcohol consumption available at a growing number of grocery stores.

Mullen, as well as another resident, expressed concern about the onsite consumption component.

Berger countered that onsite alcohol consumption would be limited to one beer as compared to the six-packs that customers could buy for to-go sales. Adding alcohol sales ensures that the convenience store is not “going to lose out to the grocery store.”

“It’s kind of a survival type thing,” Berger said.

Similar to how grocery stores operate, the convenience store would have a dedicated register for beer and wine sales. In addition, alcohol sales would be limited to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday. Alcohol coolers would be locked during times when alcohol sales are not permitted, according to Berger.

In other business, the board voted 3-1 to deny the inter municipal liquor license transfer from Bristol Township to 3 Rivers Beer, LLC., which plans to convert the former Levittown Beauty Academy at 8919 New Falls Road into a quick-service eatery where pre-packaged foods can be heated and eaten onsite with beer or wine or purchased in a to-go fashion. Mullen cast the sole vote in favor of the application.

Like the convenience store, 3 Rivers Beer, as proposed, would have adequate meals and seating for 30 customers, a representative told the board.

The company, which operates two locations like what was proposed in Falls, could still potentially move forward provided the state’s liquor control board grants the necessary approvals, officials said.