Liquor regulations affecting hours of operation, dress codes, and an establishment's responsibility to ensure safety are up for review as the town gets ready to update its liquor regulations.

The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday held a public hearing on revamped liquor license regulations to give local proprietors and other citizens a chance to offer their input.

The board serves as the licensing authority for the Town of Wareham.

Town Attorney Richard Bowen and Interim Town Administrator Derek Sullivan presented an updated, comprehensive list of liquor license regulations to the Board of Selectmen.

“The idea behind this was to just pull the liquor regulations into one document,” said Bowen.

The biggest proposed changes are related to issues of safety, and preventing discriminatory practices at establishments that serve alcohol.

Bowen said that while he doesn’t know of any establishments in Wareham that have done so, “there have been communities where they decided they didn’t want certain people in their establishments,” and all of a sudden a new dress code would be put in place.

An establishment may have a policy requiring jackets, or prohibiting sneakers, but may not arbitrarily decide that a person’s dress should bar them from entering.  The policy must be specific, so a sign that says “proper dress required,” would not suffice.

There is a similar provision for “special passes.” Such passes must be issued in advance to ensure bars and other places where people imbibe don’t usher certain people through arbitrarily. The regulation states that in issuing passes, “the licensee is responsible for ensuring that persons are picked to be pass-holders on a rational basis, and not on any basis that is discriminatory.”

With regard to safety, the new regulations would mandate that if a line extends outside of a restaurant, an employee must supervise the line. There is also a provision to prevent after-hours loitering. This is to protect our neighborhoods,” said Bowen. “Once the establishment is closed, patrons cannot hang out.”

Another proposed regulation would put more responsibility on licensees to ensure there are no illegal activities taking place at their establishments. Bowen recalled a case from several years ago on Cape Cod, in which an establishment turned a blind eye to the sale and use of cocaine on the premises.

“If you see something that looks odd, you should keep your eye on it,” said Bowen.

The proposed regulations also clarify issues related to restaurants that want to close early on slow nights. If an establishment wishes to close early, the proposed regulations would require a manager to inform the Selectmen and Wareham Police at least three hours in advance.

The Selectmen will vote on the new regulations at a later date.