Commonwealth v. Nesquehoning Legion Home Ass'n
Commonwealth v. Nesquehoning Legion Home Ass'n
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
This is an appeal by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (Board) from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Carbon County reversing a decision of the Board which had revoked the club liquor license of the Nesquehoning Legion Home Association (Nesquehoning) .
As the lower court observed, Nesquehoning first acquired a club liquor license in 1946 and it was granted annual renewals thereafter for successive license years running each year from August 1 to the following July 31. The court found, however, that Nesquehoning surrendered its license to the Board for safekeeping on May 10, 1972, while the club was undergoing a reorganization. In such case, Section 474 of the Liquor Code,
“Whenever a club license has been returned to the board for the benefit of the licensee due to the licensed establishment not having been in operation for any reason whatsoever for a period of time not exceeding fifteen days, the license shall be held by the board for the benefit of the licensee for a period of time not exceeding one year, or, upon proper application to the board, for an additional year, and the license shall be revoked at the termination of the period, and transfer of the license shall not be permitted after the termination of the period.” (Emphasis added.)
Here the initial one-year period of safekeeping by the Board expired on May 10, 1973, and Nesquehoning did not apply for an extension until June 4,1973, when it requested that the period of safekeeping be prolonged to July 31, 1974, the date on which the next
After reviewing the opinion of the Board, it is clear to us that its primary reason for revoking Nesquehoning’s liquor license was the fact, as found by the Board, that Nesquehoning failed to resume the operation of its establishment or otherwise to activate the use of its liquor license prior to May 10,-1974 at which time the terms of Section 474 of the Liquor Code provided that “the license shall be revoked.” Obviously, revocation of a liquor license under this provision
Act of April 12, 1951, P.L. 90, as amended.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.