Updated with new words from the mayor's office!

For the first time, city officials and nightlife advocates have a concrete sense of when the state will rule on extending bar hours.

On May 16, the LCB will consider whether to approve or reject Seattle's petition for later liquor service hours—specifically, to tweak state law so that local governments could ask the Board to grant extended alcohol service hours in local jurisdictions—according to a tentative timeline released by the agency today. If approved, the new rule would go into effect on September 19, meaning cities like Seattle could then start plying the LCB with specific petitions for extended service hours (state law currently prohibits liquor sales between 2:00 and 6:00 am).

But Aaron Pickus, a spokesman for Mayor Mike McGinn, says that even if approved by the LCB, a Seattle-specific proposal likely won't be ready in September the city doesn't have a specific date in mind for submitting a proposal.

"Right now, we're committed to seeing this part of the process through, so I don't think we have a timeline for that piece of it," he says, adding that the mayor wanted to solicit neighborhood concerns and community feedback on where extended liquor hours make sense. "I don't think we're there yet," he says.

Meanwhile, the LCB is busy scheduling public meetings to get resident input on the proposed rule change in Seattle and other major cities—including Tacoma, Spokane, Everett, Bellingham, and Olympia—starting March 5. (I'll post when Seattle's specific date(s) are confirmed.)

But barring that, people are free to submit comments and/or their unwavering support for the petition HERE.