PLCB admits error over Drumore Township's authority to block brewery
In the recent case of a Drumore Township restaurant seeking a brewery license, the state's complex liquor code tripped up the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board - the very agency charged with enforcing alcohol statutes.
The episode began when Drumore Township supervisors formally objected to a brewery license for Pop's Place with a Feb. 17 letter they sent to PLCB. The agency's initial response a month later was direct: Drumore had no power to stop a brewery license.
"A 'dry' municipality cannot prohibit the issuance of a manufacturing license, such as a brewery license, to a qualified applicant," read the March 18 letter signed by Frank Miller, the PLCB's licensing chief.
There was just one problem: The PLCB was wrong.
While the agency's stance reflected old rules, it ignored a pivotal 2019 law change. That amendment gave municipalities the specific right to prohibit manufacturing licenses, such as breweries, through local referendums.
The agency's error came to light after LNP - LancasterOnline questioned the PLCB about the mismatch between their letter and the current law. PLCB spokesperson Shawn Kelly confirmed the mistake on March 26.
"The PLCB inadvertently sent an outdated letter to the municipality," Kelly emailed on "A corrected, amended letter will be sent."
That corrected letter, dated March 30, didn't arrive in time for township supervisors to review it at their April 6 meeting.
When it finally landed, it confirmed the township's actual authority: voters do have the power to deny brewery and storage licenses.
The liquor code, the new letter said, was amended in 2019 "to provide voters in local municipalities the opportunity to grant or deny the issuance of certain types of licenses, including brewery and brewery storage licenses."
The supervisors' meeting on May 7 will be their first opportunity to publicly address the PLCB's reversal and the updated legal reality that spells out the way brewery licences - like the one applied for by Pop's Place - could be stopped.
Liquor license proliferation
When Prohibition ended in 1933, Pennsylvania gave municipalities a "local option" to vote on whether to allow or ban specific alcohol licenses.
While only a handful of license types existed initially, decades of legislative expansion have grown the state's liquor code into a complex web of categories. Under state law, enacting a ban is not a blanket process; each specific license type requires a separate petition and referendum.
As of September, 675 Pennsylvania municipalities were "partially dry." However, Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board records show that even the most restrictive jurisdictions have only banned four of the following 23 license types:
- Retail liquor
- Retail beer
- Wholesale malt beverage distributor
- Fine Wine & Good Spirits Store
- Brewery
- Brewery storage
- Limited winery
- Limited winery board approved location
- Limited distillery
- Limited distillery board approved location
- Special occasion permits for liquor
- Special occasion permits for beer
- National veterans clubs retail liquor
- National veterans clubs retail beer
- Privately owned golf courses liquor
- Privately owned golf courses beer
- Public venue licenses
- Performing arts facilities restaurant
- Property owned by accredited college or university
- Ski resorts
- Liquor licenses for resort facilities
- Airport restaurant liquor licenses
- Continuing care retirement communities
Source: Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board
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This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 9:23 AM.