Licensing Board Votes to Ease Store Hour Rules

Licensing Board · Meeting of August 20, 2026

WATERTOWN — The Watertown Licensing Board approved a dozen changes to its rules and regulations and granted two September event permits. Chairperson Sandy Sabian-Austin led the unanimous votes, which align package store days and hours with state law under "whatever hours are permitted by law," per attorney Tom McEnany, and drop common victualler licenses from abutter-notification requirements while adding outdoor entertainment licenses to that list. The board also approved a one-day malt beverage license for the city's Fair on the Square event September 19 and a one-day all-alcohol license for the Knights of Vartan Ararat Lodge's 15th annual Surf and Turf fundraiser September 17.

Both licenses carry police-recommended conditions, including hired detail officers and two-drink-per-person limits. A new exemption lets non-sacramental religious-ceremony toasts proceed without a license "unless there is a charge for the toast."

In the full story:

• Approval of Minutes
• Special One-Day License: Fair on the Square
• Special One-Day License: Knights of Vartan Ararat Lodge Fundraiser
• Regulatory Rewrite: Abutter Notification Rules
• Building-Permit Sequencing and Religious-Ceremony Toast Exemption
• Package Store Hours Aligned to State Law
• Restaurant, Commercial Club and Private Club Hours and Capacity Authority
• Next Steps
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,599 words

Source: the Licensing Board meeting of August 20, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.