Pittsfield Health Board Upholds Berkshire Pipe License Revocation
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city has lost another tobacco permit, and Berkshire Pipe and Tobacco was advised to find a different product to sell.
On Wednesday, the Board of Health reaffirmed its Dec. 3 decision to revoke the 17-year-old business's tobacco license, which has been suspended since March. While the shop owners were apologetic, the board upheld its decision because of repeated violations and a citation from the Department of Revenue for untaxed tobacco products.
"Unfortunately, you're in a situation where, having been given a number of chances to get off suspension, get off fines, you've gotten to the point where you're selling an unlicensed product in our city, despite the fact that you shouldn't have anything on site, you actually have stuff that's illegal in the state so I can't think of any other way we can deal with this, other than to leave it as a revocation," board member Dr. Jeffrey Leppo said.
"Otherwise, we might as well just simply say any store could do this, and there's no consequence. And we're not about to say that."
No new applications are being accepted for tobacco permits in Pittsfield, meaning that when a permit is revoked, it goes away. The tobacco permit for Gulf Food Mart on Wahconah Street was revoked last year.
Director of Public Health Andy Cambi reported that an August inspection by the DOR found untaxed products on site while the tobacco license was suspended. If not revoked, it would have been up for renewal on Dec. 11.
"My sense is that we have given this establishment enough opportunities to go through their inventory to make sure they don't have tobacco products. We have gone out and done multiple inspections where there have been times that we have not found any tobacco products, there have been times that we have found tobacco products," he said.
Store representative Nipun Saluja reported that the store passed inspection in May and June and provided the board with a letter, which was not read aloud. He said the store was initially given a one-month suspension that turned into a 10-month suspension.
"So I did respect the board. We did not challenge their suspension. We did not go to court. We had our rights to go to court and challenge the suspension," he said.
Saluja pointed out that the store doesn't hold any other licenses, such as food or alcoholic beverages, and asked how they are supposed to survive. He cited the number of cannabis dispensaries in the city.
"It's unfortunate that you don't have any other products to sell to keep your business afloat, but it doesn't change the circumstance at all that we can't really trust you to not sell tobacco products," Chair Roberta Elliott said.
"And we take that very seriously because we know that kids start smoking at a very young age because they have access to those products."
She advised that Berkshire Pipe and Tobacco find another business strategy, and asserted that they cannot sell tobacco products anymore.
Tags: board of health, tobacco regulations,
