LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The former Coyote Den is eyed to become a new liquor store.
Rakeshkumar "Rocky" Vyas, the owner of the local BP store on South Main Street, and attorney Darren Lee are purchasing the Route 7 restaurant and turning it into a package store. The new shop, however, spells the demises of one, if not two other stores in town.
The Selectmen approved the transfer of the all-alcohol liquor license from Joseph Szczepaniak, owner of Berkshire Village Liquors on Cheshire Road. Szczepaniak is expected to close Berkshire Village Liquors.
Bruce Conuel, owner of Pontoosuc Liquor Store on Route 7, says the new license would devastate his business of 35 years.
"There is not enough economic activity to support two licenses on Route 7," Conuel told the Board of Selectmen on Monday night in opposition of granting the transfer.
Conuel said some 15 years ago the Board of Selectmen distributed the two liquor licenses to each of the main roads — Routes 7 and 8 — to serve both sides of town. Monday's decision, however, reverses that trend and with competition already just over the border in Pittsfield, Conuel says the new store would put him out of business.
"This will be devastating to my business if you support this," Conuel said. "This will put me out of business plain and simple."
Conuel's attorney Timothy Sullivan argued that the Board of Selectmen should deny the license for geographic reasons — and even questioned Vyas' citizenship (Vyas is a U.S. citizen.) Sullivan said another store is not in the benefit of the public good.
"There are enough package stores on Route 7," Sullivan said. "If they are all jammed up on Route 7, what happens on Route 8?"
The Coyote Den building has been vacant for a couple of years after the restaurant closed. The location has been the site of a number of restaurants in the past. Lee said the plan is to turn the entire building into a liquor store with 2,700 square feet of retail space.
"That location for us, the full capacity will be used as a package store," Lee, who is a 50/50 partner in the business with Vyas, told the Selectmen. "We expect to use 100 percent of the building for this use."
Lee expects the sale of the building to close next week and says the usage fits all zoning regulations — including the needed 17 spots for parking.
Realtor Barbara Hassan, who brokered the deal for the building, said reusing vacant commercial space in town will enhance the tax base while also providing shoppers with competitive pricing and selections.
"I don't see any harm in it at all," Hassan said.
Lee said, "we are repurposing what is an empty business."
Police Chief Timothy Sorrell, who said he was speaking as a resident and not for the department, echoed the sentiment that it would be a more convenient location.
The Coyote Den building is more than a mile closer to the center of town. Previously the Lanesboro Supermarket sold beer and wine — not liquor — but no longer does. That beer and wine license is still in possession of the owners.
"The locations are well over a mile apart from each other," Lee said.
In the past, the Selectmen denied Vyas a license for his convenience store to sell alcohol. Chairman John Goerlach said there were other locations to purchase alcohol nearby at the time.
Conuel said if Vyas and Lee bought a store on Route 8 instead he "wouldn't have a problem."
"I'm a small businessman trying to survive in a big-box store business climate," Conuel said.
Nonetheless, the Selectmen were unanimious in the decision to both transfer the license and to change the location to the Coyote Den. The board considered delaying the decision to get more community input but each member agreed with Selectmen Robert Ericson who said it would be "just putting off a hard decision."
