John Osborne here. I'm a little surprised that my story has become a discussion topic, but let me clarify some of the issues raised so far. [*]Before the moratorium, liquor licenses for stores in NY State were issued pretty much on request. You cannot be a convicted felon, a retired police officer (don't ask me why), or an employee of a licensed wholesaler of alcoholic products and be issued a license. You also cannot accept financing from any of those same sources. The premises must also meet certain requirements. I retained an attorney who specializes in NY State liquor laws, who reviewed my situation and assured me that there would be no problem obtaining a license under the system in place before the moratorium took effect. [*]The license application process can take up to 2 months. Since, in most cases, the approval is a foregone conclusion if you meet the criteria, one wants to use that time to prepare the store space for business, so that upon the issuance of the license, one can then get a C of O from the local authorities and open. The C of O is not a criteria for the license, but the license is needed for the C of O. Additionally, once the space is completed, photos of the premises are required by the State Liquor Authority. [*]A signed lease for the premises is a required part of the application process. You must have a commitment in order to apply for the license. Update Before breaking for summer recess, both the NY State Assembly and the NY State Senate passed budget cleanup bills that contain an amendment that completely repeals the 5 year moratorium. The repeals are identical, but are part of larger bills that contain significant differences between the Republican controlled Senate version and the Democrat controlled Assembly version. At some point in the fall, when the Legislature reconvenes, these bills will be addressed and the repeal should go through. However, we all know how politics work...
