The State College borough council will hold a public hearing on a proposed intermunicipal liquor license next month that, if approved, would bring Buffalo Wild Wings to downtown State College .
While council didn’t get into the details of the application during Monday’s work session, the borough manager gave an overview of the transfer request and how the process typically works.
Council will hold a public hearing on Aug. 5 and the applicant, State College Wing Company (doing business as Buffalo Wild Wings) will have the opportunity to present testimony, as will other interested parties, Borough Manager Tom Fountaine said.
“There will be an opportunity at the work session following that to have further discussion after the public hearing, and then the decision will be scheduled for the Aug. 19 council meeting on the application,” he said.
The council’s action after the public hearing will be to determine if the proposed transfer would adversely impact the welfare, health, peace and morals of the borough or its residents, Fountaine said.
Other factors, including information in the application, comments from the public hearing, a report and recommendation from the manager and police chief, can be considered by the council.
The intermunicipal transfer is needed in this situation because the state allows one liquor license per 3,000 people.
“The ability to get a new license is therefore based on transferring from one municipality to another. And that is why this is here before council. When the state law changed to allow that approval at a local level, the ordinance was adopted to allow for this to occur,” Fountaine said.
When such transfers were approved in the past, the borough has added conditions to the license. The council has recently gone through this process.
At least two other restaurants had liquor license transfers approved by borough council since last year. Brothers Bar & Grill and Figo Italian each had their requests approved with conditions. For example, Figo Italian was required to abide by a 60%/40% food-alcohol beverage ratio, alcohol sales are not permitted when food sales are not available and alcoholic beverages must be sold in containers less than 22 fluid ounces.
The license that Buffalo Wild Wings is seeking to transfer belongs to Don Patron Mexican Grill, which operated in Patton Township until it closed in March 2017 .
The deadline for a decision is Aug. 19.
The chain is hoping to open at The Maxxen, 131 Hiester St., if the transfer is approved. It would be Buffalo Wild Wings’ first in Centre County. Its nearest restaurant is in Lycoming County, about an hour and 15 minutes away. It has more than 1,300 locations nationwide, including 30 in Pennsylvania.
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