Whitehead v. Estate of Ray Bravard

STEPHENS, Chief Justice.

The precise issue we address on this appeal is whether a municipality may, by ordinance, limit the number of retail beer licenses in that city, when such limitation is in conflict with an order of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board of the Commonwealth, although the Board had not previously adopted a specific quota for such licenses within the city.

In February of 1982, the City of Newport passed an ordinance which limited the number of retail alcoholic beverage licenses to *721be issued by the city. Among the limitations imposed by the ordinance was a total of twenty-five…