Warrant Committee Backs Liquor License Expansion, Stays Silent on Rink Name

BELMONT -- July 16, 2025, Belmont's Warrant Committee unanimously backed a citizens petition to expand restaurant liquor licenses while declining to weigh in on a separate effort to preserve the Skip Figueroa name on the town's nearly completed ice rink. The committee voted 13-0 Wednesday night to recommend favorable action on a home rule petition filed by Town Meeting Member Carol Barbarian and resident Max Collise that would ask the Select Board to file legislation lowering seating requirements and increasing the number of available all-alcohol and wine-and-beer restaurant licenses; of the town's eight all-alcohol licenses, four currently sit unused, and 11 of 16 wine-and-beer licenses are unclaimed. On the rink naming question, the committee voted 11-1-1 to take no position, with members concluding there was no concrete financial impact before them and that the matter rests with the Select Board and town meeting. Town Administrator Patrice Garvin confirmed the rink, set to open November 1, has no finalized operating budget and that a full analysis of whether licensing fees cover administrative costs has not been completed. Both petitions go before the July 23 Special Town Meeting.