Pittsfield Licensing Board Hikes Fees

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
11:28AM / Thursday, March 05, 2026Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — During a brief meeting on Monday, the Licensing Board approved new fees for fiscal year 2027 and upgraded the Barrington Stage Company's liquor license.

This meeting had been postponed twice because of snowstorms on Jan. 26 and Feb. 23.

The City Clerk's Office joined the Building Department, Board of Health, and Zoning Board of Appeals to update Pittsfield's fee schedule for the first time in 10 to 25 years, depending on the department. The group compared licensing fees in other Berkshire communities as well as Springfield, Chicopee, Northampton, and Holyoke.

Chair Thomas Campoli observed that some of the increases are between 25 and 27 percent, and that the fees haven't been updated for "Oh, the many years."

Assistant City Clerk Heather Brazeau reported that Licensing Board fees have not been updated since 2017. She recognized that no one wants to ask businesses for additional money, but said Pittsfield's rates are low compared to surrounding communities.

"We looked at all of the other communities, kind of figured out what would be in the middle, what would be fair, how much of an increase there would be the first time, so that people weren't so taken aback," she explained.

The city has 38 seven-day, all-alcohol annual licenses that will increase from $1,175 to $1,500, generating $57,000 per year. There are 12 package store licenses that will increase from $1,600 to $2,000. Between the 112 total liquor license increases, Pittsfield will see an incremental revenue increase of $25,170, totaling $142,200 in yearly revenue.

Great Barrington charges $1,100 and Lanesborough charges $1,250 for an annual all-alcohol restaurant license. The average cost among nearby communities is about $1,700. The city of Northampton charges $2,259, and the city of Springfield charges $2,800. Holyoke only charges $1,000 per year for the license.

BSC's Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center at 36 Linden St. can now serve all alcohol, instead of being limited to wine and malt beverages. The facility houses the 132-seat St. Germain Stage and Mr. Finn's Cabaret, a 99-seat cabaret space in the lower level of the building.

A state law passed last year allows restaurants and bars with existing wine and malt beverage licenses to convert their licenses to all-alcohol licenses.

On the agenda was an update from Chili's on its liquor license for the shuttered Berkshire Crossing location, but no representatives from the company attended the meeting, and it was continued.

The restaurant closed abruptly in August 2024 and has been looking for a buyer for over a year. Representatives have come before the board a few times with reports that there are interested parties, but no sale.

Last fall, Campoli reminded the company that under state law, if a licensee is not operating, the board has to "turn up the heat" to see if the license can be transferred or the venue reopened under a different owner.

At this meeting, they planned to discuss whether to begin the six months that the business has to reopen or sell its liquor license. The current lease agreement goes out to 2029, and the company, Pepper Dining Inc., is looking for another business to carry it out.

Tags: license board, alcohol license,

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Fenton: Governor's Council Must Deliver for the Berkshires

Community submissionGuest Column
10:22AM / Friday, August 28, 2026

I am a Springfield lawyer running for Governor's Council and I am asking for Berkshire County residents to support me over an incumbent from North Adams.

Here's why: Last year I learned about staffing issues in our regional courts that I could not ignore. In 2025, it was reported that four of Western Massachusetts' 11 Superior Court judgeships were vacant, all at the same time. A few weeks later, that grew to five vacancies. This meant there were only six Superior Court judges serving all of Western Mass at a time when Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties had more than 100 pending homicide cases.

Those numbers were alarming to me, so I started to engage with leaders in the community who work most closely with the court system and I came to learn that these vacancies were only the tip of the iceberg here in Berkshire County.

I learned that no Superior Court or District Court judge had been appointed from the Berkshires since the current incumbent took office. As a result, there is not a single Superior Court judge who lives in the Berkshires today, and several of the District Court judges drive in from other counties to support Berkshire courts in Pittsfield, Great Barrington, and North Adams. Court staff also informed me about severe staffing shortages at the Berkshire Clerk of Courts office resulting in other counties needing to loan staff to the Berkshires just so hardworking employees can take a brief and planned summer vacation. This is not normal. These issues are a reflection of genuine problems with the Berkshire County court system and show a lack of proactive attention from our Governor's Councilor.

Instead of focusing on regional equity, I watched as the current incumbent celebrated that she has voted against the governor's nominees more than any other councilor, without much explanation as to why. Most recently, she voted against two extremely qualified former prosecutors for the Parole Board. This was despite an in-person plea from the governor and a letter of support from all the three of the district attorney's from Western Mass. Those votes do not show independence or standing up for principles, they demonstrate naivete, and an unwillingness to work with the key stakeholders.

I had seen and heard enough. I decided to jump in the race and challenge the incumbent to address these problems head-on.

I am a partner of a regional law firm. I understand our courts and the importance of having qualified, fair and hardworking judges. And I know how important it is to have judges from the Berkshires serving the Berkshires. To achieve that, you need strong relationships with the legal community and local stakeholders. You need to know how to use the power of the Governor's Council to fight forcefully for our region. And you need to be laser focused on identifying vacancies before they occur so that they can be filled quickly with local candidates.

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