Alaska’s alcohol board made the right call on tasting room regulation. Now it’s the Legislature’s turn.

It took a while, but the Alaska Alcoholic Beverage Control Board finally heard the people loud and clear. And when it did, its members acted accordingly.

Weighing a proposed regulation from now-ousted Alcohol and Marjuana Control Office head Erika McConnell that would have instituted draconian restrictions on activities at brewery and distillery tasting rooms, the board opted to reject it unanimously. They made no bones about the reason for their decision: Public comment. A lot of it — 1,720 pages, to be exact. The overwhelming majority of that comment came from Alaskans who opposed further restrictions on what breweries and distilleries could do under the auspices of their tasting room licenses. Board member Sara Erickson said succinctly that "the public has made it very clear what they want.”

The proposed regulation was so restrictive that it was opposed not only by brewers and distillers, but also by bar and restaurant lobbying group Alaska Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant and Retailers Association, or CHARR, which has previously been in favor of limiting the scope of tasting rooms. Among other things, the regulation would have barred brewery/distillery tours, tasting classes and First Friday art shows. It’s hard to imagine a rule change that would have cut more strongly against public opinion.

Even having been spared further over-regulation at the hands of the alcohol board, it’s not as though breweries and distilleries have free rein to host activities and events under their roofs. As written, state alcohol laws block the establishments from hosting "live entertainment, televisions, pool tables, dart games, dancing” and “other recreational and gaming opportunities.” In addition, there are limits on when, what and how much they can serve — breweries, for instance, can serve no more than 36 ounces per customer of beer they brew themselves, and they must stop serving at 8 p.m.

The saga of Alaska’s alcohol laws has been long and complicated, and the result is a hodgepodge of compromises in law that serve no group — bars, breweries, distilleries or the public — particularly well. cThat’s an area where the major alcohol players are in agreement. All that needs to happen is for the Legislature to take up such a change and hammer it out via the legislative process. It should be a straightforward process, but so far, it hasn’t been.

There are a host of complicating factors, some of which are fair and legitimate considerations that the Legislature should take into account when working on a Title 4 fix. For bars, the situation is complicated by Alaska’s quota system, which caps the number of bars per community and has vastly inflated prices for liquor licenses. It’s a state of affairs that has led bar owners— much like taxi cab drivers who grouse about Uber — to be overprotective of what they see as unfair encroachment on their turf. They consider breweries and distilleries to be opportunistic interlopers stealing value from their businesses. It’s no coincidence that the last legislative attempt at a large-scale Title 4 rewrite was torpedoed by former bar owner Rep. Louise Stutes, who made a poison-pill amendment that would have cut the amount breweries and distilleries could serve by a third.

There’s good reason for the different alcohol license types to have different rules. Bars, restaurants and tasting rooms each have different focuses, and it’s appropriate for their rights and restrictions to reflect that. At the same time, however, Alaskans have made themselves abundantly clear on this issue. They like the atmosphere of tasting rooms, where patrons aren’t over-served and drinking is an accompaniment to socializing, not the primary focus. They appreciate the innovation displayed by owners, who organize collaborations with other local businesses and events that emphasize a well-rounded lifestyle. That ability to innovate should be protected and expanded under a Title 4 rewrite, not restricted to protect the value of existing license holders with less inclination to adapt to Alaskans’ evolving tastes.