North Adams Board Tells Package Store Owner to Get a Manager
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The License Commission is putting the brakes on an alcohol license transfer after the proposed new owner of Ed's Variety failed to find a local manager.
Will Patel of Westwood had appeared before the commission last month with paperwork naming himself as manager and an assistant who would take over but who was not a U.S. citizen.
Patel told the commission he had attempted to hire a local manager but didn't know anyone. He admitted that he had not advertised for the position.
The former owner, Richard Sheehan, and his sister did not wish to stay on, he said, and the few part-timers working at the package store are not ready to take on the responsibility.
Patel said if the commission would allow the paperwork to go through, he would find a suitable manager and have the documentation transferred again.
The commission was not happy with that idea, especially since Patel lives so far away.
"I'm not trying not to discourage the sale or transfer," said Chairman Jeffrey Polucci. "But we looked up some of the legislation. ... I really need to have someone local on that. ... Your choice is not a naturalized citizen."
Patel holds four other licenses to operate all-alcohol package stores in other parts of the state; his wife operates three of them, he said, which would allow him to spend more time in North Adams.
He should be designated as president of the company with on-site managers responsible for the licenses, Polucci said.
The law states license holders or designated managers must be residents and citizens: "A corporation who holds such a license must appoint a license manager who is an individual, twenty-one years of age or older, who is a citizen of the United States ... ."
"If we were to accept that as presented with you as the manager, you would still be required to spend 35-40 hours a week here," said Commissioner Rosemari Dickinson. If that changed, he would have to reapply again. Wouldn't it be easier to wait and get a manager rather than resubmitting the forms, she asked.
Petal assured the commission that he would be on-site for 40 hours a week. But Polucci noted that with hours of 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., even at 35-40, half the time the store was open he wouldn't be there. Plus, he lives 2 1/2 hours away.
"What's going to happen is once you get set up ... you're going to be coming here one day a week at most and the person running the store isn't the one who is supposed to be running the store," Polucci said.
Dickinson said she didn't want to hold up a sale for local business. "If Mr. Patel has anything that's questionable the state is going to stop it like they have with other applications," she said.
Polucci several times asked for motions, saying he didn't want to press his opinion on the panel. He finally made a motion to reject but Dickinson said that would negate any further efforts by Petal to find a manager. In the end, the commission voted again to continue the hearing until August, urging Petal to find a manager.
Also in old business, Dickinson said she had a received a phone call from Todd Hebert, owner of the former Crystal Hard Hat tavern, that afternoon saying he would not be appearing at the meeting. The commissioners had requested Hebert make known his intentions regarding the alcohol license he still held.
Dickinson said Hebert told her was surrendering the license but did not give a timeframe. Commissioner Peter Breen asked if that included the entertainment and (machine) gambling licenses as well. Dickinson said those had not been discussed.
In other business, the commission approved a two-day all-alcohol license for V&V to serve from a booth during Motorama on Aug. 27 and 28, and a Class 2 license for automobile sales for Jim's Auto Sales at 559 Ashland St. James Krutiak had already been approved by the Planning Board for the business.
But a routine approval for Bright Ideas Brewing to sell beer during the upcoming Levitt Amp Concert Series at Colegrove Park ran into a hitch. Breen pointed out that because the sales would be near an active church, First Baptist, the commission should hold a public hearing and notify the abutters. The city solicitor had provided an opinion that the school would not be a problem because it is closed, and closed on the Sundays of the concert.
The commission will set a hearing for the beginning of August. The first concert is on Aug. 14.
Tags: alcohol license, license board,
