By JOHN KOZIOL

Staff Writer

LACONIA — Any effort to limit the size of so-called "beer tents" has to be done by an act of the Legislature, not through a change in the internal policies of the State Liquor Commission, said state Rep. Betsey Patten, R and D-Moultonboro.

Patten chairs the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules, which on Monday unanimously gave a "preliminary objection" to proposed NHSLC rules affecting "extension of service" licenses.

Several Laconia businesses that already have state liquor licenses annually apply for the extensions to be able to serve alcohol in hospitality tents during Bike Week.

Of the NHSLC’s suggested changes, the businesses have most strenuously objected to a provision that would restrict the number of people in the area where service would be extended to no more than three times the seating capacity of the area for which the original liquor license was issued.

The businesses say such a restriction could cripple them financially.

As the Liquor Commission and now JLCAR have looked at the extension of service issue, both Laconia Police Chief Tom Oetinger and Police Commission Chairman Armand Maheux have spoken in favor of some controls on beer tent occupancy.

Oetinger and Maheux each expressed concerns about the potential bad behavior that could ensue after the beer tents shut down and thousands of patrons flood surrounding streets.

Patten on Wednesday said that in objecting to the proposed NHSLC changes, the JLCAR weighed the oral and written testimony of witnesses as well as the recommendations of its own staff and attorneys.

The committee, she said, concluded that "the Liquor Commission did not have the authority to put a number" on how many people could be permitted into a beer tent nor could the commission "get into the process of denying a permit after the local community had granted the permit."

What Patten was referring to is the fact that Laconia, through its Motorcycle Technical Review Committee, reviews all Bike Week site plans, including for "beer tents."

The MTRC has to approve a beer tent before the NHSLC will consider an applicant’s request for an extension of service license. The Laconia Fire Department sets the actual occupancy for the tents.

The size of Bike Week beer tents became an issue immediately prior to last year’s rally when then-state Attorney General Phil McLaughlin urged the NHSLC, on the grounds of public safety, to deny all extension of service requests or to significantly restrict the maximum number of people permitted into a beer tent at one time.

A last-minute agreement between the AG’s office and several Weirs Beach businesses that wanted to operate beer tents saw the businesses settle on having no more than 1,000 patrons in their tents, which was down substantially from the previous year.

JLCAR, said Patten, determined that it was "beyond the authority of the agency (the NHSLC) to set occupancy for extension of service licenses and also that such a change did not appear to be the intent of the Legislature."

Earlier this year, the Legislature recodified several liquor laws but did not specifically address beer tent occupancy, perhaps, said Patten, because "the Legislature didn’t want the Liquor Commission to have permission to say ‘no.’ "

The JLCAR can also object to a rule change if it deems the change is not in the "public interest," Patten continued.

But that objection fell flat given that based on testimony it heard and a letter it received from Laconia Mayor Mark Fraser, the committee concluded that the beer tents were the preferred alternative to having people drinking in public.

Finally, the JLCAR can object to a rule change if the change entails "a substantial economic impact" on either state or local governments or on businesses or individuals.

The NHSLC had maintained that the beer tent rule changes did not have any fiscal impact, but attorneys for the Weirs Beach Lobster Pound and Broken Spoke Salon, both of Endicott Street North in The Weirs, argued that there would indeed be a heavy impact on them, said Patten.

In their decision making, members of the JLCAR were most influenced by their feeling that the NHSLC did not have authority to make the proposed changes, Patten said, and also by the fact that the commission’s fiscal impact statement "did not seem to be accurate."

The "intent of Legislature" and "public interest" objections also came into play, but to a much lesser extent, she said.

The NHSLC can reply to the JLCAR’s objections and come back with a revised set of changes, said Patten.

The JLCAR next meets on July 17.

A NHSLC staff member on Thursday said the commission has yet to review the JLCAR’s written objections, but was expected to discuss them at its next meeting, which is scheduled for July 2.

The commission, which has 45 days to respond to the JLCAR objection, can modify the proposed rules to meet the objections or come back with a set of reasons why they should go forward as presented, said the staffer.

The commission could also seek to have introduced legislation to address the question of Bike Week beer tents specifically or could adopt the rule changes over the objection of the JLCAR, although such a move is unlikely, the staffer said, since doing so makes the rules more susceptible to legal challenges than had they been approved by JLCAR.