[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Franklin as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Adult entertainment — See Ch. 43.
Bazaars — See Ch. 56.
Licenses — See Ch. 110.
Peace and good order — See Ch. 125.
Bare feet — See Ch. 196.
[Adopted 1-10-1975 as § 22 of Art. IV of the Bylaws of the Town of Franklin; amended in its entirety 3-5-2008 by Bylaw Amendment 08-615]
No person shall drink or have in his or her possession an open container of any alcoholic beverages, as defined in MGL c. 138, § 1, while in or upon any public way or any way to which the public has a right of access, any municipal building, facility or land or any place to which members of the public have access as invitees or licensees, except upon premises or at an event for which the Town Council has issued an alcoholic beverages license.
The penalty for each violation of this article shall be $300; the enforcing agent for purposes of MGL c. 40, § 21D, shall be the Franklin Police Department.
[Adopted 5-25-1983 by Bylaw Amendment 83-41A; amended in its entirety 3-5-2008 by Bylaw Amendment 08-615]
Pursuant to the powers conferred on the Franklin Town Council (hereinafter "Council") by the provisions of MGL c. 138, §§ 12 and 23, and all other powers the Council may have, the Council, as local licensing authority, hereby adopts the following rules and regulations for persons holding alcoholic beverage licenses (hereinafter "licensees") within the Town of Franklin for on-premises consumption.
A. 
The Council shall establish the hours of operation of licensees as specified on the individual license.
B. 
The licensee and his employees may remain on the licensed premises for up to one hour after the specified closing time for the purpose of closing the business in an orderly manner.
C. 
The so-called "last call" for serving alcoholic beverages shall be 15 minutes before the specified closing time, and all unconsumed alcoholic beverages shall be cleared within 15 minutes following said closing time.
D. 
All customers shall leave the licensed premises no later than 30 minutes following the specified closing time.
No license shall be transferred or surrendered without authorization of the Council.
Any licensee intending to close his place of business shall notify the Council in writing before such closing, stating in such notice the reason and length of such closing.
All licenses, together with all notices from state or municipal authorities regarding hours of operation or the sale of alcoholic beverages to minors or intoxicated persons, shall be posted conspicuously on the licensed premises.
All areas of the licensed premises shall be subject to inspection at all times by the Council's designated agents; the licensee's records of sales and purchases of alcoholic beverages shall also be subject to inspection at reasonable times and places and in a reasonable manner by the Council's designated agents.
The licensee shall designate a manager or person in charge of the premises. Such person shall be regularly employed on the licensed premises, and the licensee shall notify the Council in writing if such person is absent for a period in excess of seven consecutive days. Such notice shall state the estimated length of such absence and shall indicate who will manage or be in charge of the premises during such absence. If any such absence exceeds 30 consecutive days, the licensee shall so notify the Council and request approval of such absence. If such approval is not given, the licensee shall designate a new manager, subject to approval by the Council.
The manager shall at all times maintain order and decorum in the premises and the immediately surrounding area of the premises and shall cooperate in all ways with public officials in ensuring the safe and orderly operation of the premises.
No alcoholic beverages shall be sold, kept for sale, served or consumed in or upon any part of the premises which is not specifically described in the license.
No licensee or any principal or employee of any licensee shall permit any disorder, disturbance or illegality of any kind to take place in or upon the licensed premises or participate therein. The licensee shall be responsible therefor, whether present or not. The owner and/or manager of record shall be fully responsible for any violation or infraction of the law, these rules and regulations, and disorders or disturbances of any kind which take place in or upon the licensed premises, whether or not they are present, including the actions of employees and/or entertainers.
[Added 4-27-2016 by Bylaw Amendment 16-754[1]]
The manager, any alternate manager(s), all bartenders, and all other employees selling or serving alcohol must participate in a safe-service-of-alcohol training program designed for the specific type of liquor license held by the licensee (e.g., for on-premises consumption versus for retail package store sales) to train persons serving or selling alcohol in methods of observation and detection to avoid serving or selling alcohol to intoxicated persons and/or minors. Only insurance-industry-approved and -qualified training programs will satisfy this training requirement. All managers and alternate managers must receive in-person training in order to be employed as a manager or alternate manager and shall complete the training prior to assuming supervisory duties relating to alcohol sales and/or service. Non-managerial employees selling or serving alcohol must receive training and shall complete the training prior to being permitted to sell or serve alcohol; they may satisfy this training requirement through on-line training. All persons subject to this training requirement must be retrained every three years in the manner specified by this section for that position. The licensee shall maintain on the licensed premises and make available for inspection at all times by Town Council or its agent(s) a copy of the certification card and other proof showing that each person subject to this training requirement has been trained in the manner specified by this section within the prior three years.
[1]
Editor's Note: This bylaw amendment provided that it shall become effective on and after 9-1-2016.
All alcoholic beverages sold by licensees must be opened and consumed on the licensed premises.
No alcoholic beverages shall be sold to a person whom the server knows or has reason to know is intoxicated.
The degree of illumination of the licensed premises during business hours shall be subject to review and control by the Council or its designated agents.
A current list of employees and their residential addresses shall be made available upon request of the Council or its designated agents.
[Amended 12-19-2018 by Bylaw Amendment 18-825; 1-30-2019 by Bylaw Amendment 19-835]
Licenses issued under MGL c. 138, § 12, for restaurant or innholder licenses, shall be issued only to duly licensed common victualer and innholders who have adequate and sanitary kitchen and dining room equipment and capacity for preparing, cooking, and serving suitable food for strangers, travelers and other patrons, as required by MGL c. 140. It shall be the obligation of all licensees and managers thereof to ensure continuous compliance with this requirement. All such licensees are obligated to provide food for the entire time period during which alcohol of alcoholic beverages may be purchased. The availability of snack food, such as popcorn, beef sticks, pretzels, candy and the like, shall not satisfy this requirement. The requirements contained in this section shall not apply to a theatre, performing arts center or other venue, the primary use of which is an arts or cultural facility. The requirements contained in this section shall also not apply to an establishment which holds an Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission-issued farmers series license issued pursuant to MGL c. 138 §§ 19B (winery), 19C(brewery) or 19E (distillery).
Licensee shall not permit alcoholic beverages to be brought onto the licensed premises by patrons or anyone other than a licensed distributor and shall not permit patrons to consume alcoholic beverages on the licensed premises which were not purchased there.
These regulations are incorporated by reference into and made a condition of every license for the sale of alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption. Each license shall so indicate and provide that the licensee acknowledges receipt of a copy of these regulations.
The Franklin Police Chief and all police officers, the Fire Chief or his designee, the Building Commissioner, and the Board of Health agent are each designated as agents of the local licensing authority authorized to enforce both the provisions of this bylaw and MGL c. 138.
Violation of any of the foregoing regulations shall be deemed to be a violation of a condition of the licensee's alcoholic beverages license and may constitute grounds for the local licensing authority to modify, suspend, revoke or cancel the license as provided in MGL c. 138, § 64. A violation of any regulation that does not directly involve the serving or consumption of alcoholic beverages shall also be punishable by a fine in the amount of $300; each violative act or omission shall constitute a separate offense. The Town Council or its designated agent(s), the Town Administrator or his designated agent, and the Franklin Police Department shall be the enforcing agents for purposes of MGL c. 40, § 21D.
[Added 2-12-2014 by Bylaw Amendment 14-727]
A. 
Guidelines for compliance check violations:
(1) 
First offense: three- to five-day suspension, one to three days to be served, with balance held in abeyance for two years.
(2) 
Second offense*: five- to seven-day suspension, three to five days to be served, with balance held in abeyance for three years.
(3) 
Third offense*: seven- to ten-day suspension, five to seven days to be served, with balance held in abeyance for five years.
Note:
*
Any outstanding prior penalty held in abeyance shall be brought forward and served.
All penalties shall be served, at Council's option, commencing on the day of the week of the violation.
B. 
Other operational violations: The Town Council shall consider each alleged violation on its facts, on a case-by-case basis and reserves its statutory right to modify, suspend or revoke a license; however, it may, in its sound discretion, apply the guidelines for compliance check violations, as well as aggravating or mitigating factors as follows:
(1) 
Aggravating factors:
(a) 
Deliberateness of violation: intentional, willful, or negligent.
(b) 
Facts of violation.
[1] 
Incident impacting public safety or accident involving serious personal injury or death.
[2] 
Continued service of intoxicated or underage person or service of multiple intoxicated and/or underage persons.
(c) 
Multiple statutory and/or local bylaw violations.
(d) 
Licensee's obstruction of or non-cooperation in investigation.
(e) 
Licensee's failure to provide adequate staff training and oversight procedures.
(f) 
Number and frequency of prior violations.
(2) 
Mitigating factors:
(a) 
Licensee's acknowledgment of violation.
(b) 
Licensee's cooperation in investigation.
(c) 
Licensee's prevention attempts: equipment installation, staff training, oversight procedures, etc.
(d) 
Licensee's voluntary remediation efforts: additional equipment, training, procedures, etc.