Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Blog

News from Braintree: the town's board of license commissioners wanted to hear from residents and the business community about the need for any additional liquor licenses and whether they should be limited to business districts that the town is seeking to revitalize, including Braintree Square, South Braintree Square, and the Braintree portion of Weymouth Landing, which straddles the Braintree/Weymouth line.

But no one came to discuss the issue during the Oct. 12 board meeting.

"We had been hearing from businesses and other folks that they were interested in acquiring liquor licenses for restaurants," said Town Clerk Joseph Powers, the chairman of the board, in an Oct. 21 interview with the Braintree Forum. "We had our staff inform people that the board would conduct a local forum where any interested party could come forward and weigh in on whether the town needs more liquor licenses. The fact that no one showed up to advocate for more liquor licenses tells me clearly that there's no further need."

The board agreed on Sept. 7 to grant a food license for the new Sake Japanese Restaurant at 910 Washington St. in South Braintree Square, but could not grant a request from owner Wen Fang Zheng for a beer and wine license because the town had none left to give.

The board granted Braintree's last beer and wine license to Foursquare at 16 Commercial St. in Weymouth Landing. Scheduled to open in November, the restaurant, formerly known as Helen's, is owned by state Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth, and partner Marko Fani.

Special legislation would have to be sought to allow the town to add one more beer and wine license for the Sake Japanese Restaurant. Under state law, the number of liquor licenses each community is allowed is dictated by population. Braintree has issued all 35 full liquor licenses for bars, restaurants, and clubs, along with seven beer and wine licenses.

The Boston Globe reports that Boston city councilor Chuck Turner testified on Tuesday that local businessman Ronald Wilburn handed him "something'' when they shook hands at a meeting in 2007, but that he does not remember receiving cash in that exchange, which Wilburn secretly videotaped as an FBI witness.

Taking the stand in his own defense against the advice of his lawyers, Turner also said he did not recall meeting Wilburn three times in his district office and at City Hall that summer, as Wilburn and prosecutors in Turner's extortion trial have described.

Turner acknowledged that the FBI videotape shows him meeting with Wilburn Aug. 3, 2007, at the councilor's storefront district office in Roxbury. And he conceded that Wilburn, who carried a briefcase rigged with a surveillance camera to the office, testified that the tape shows Wilburn giving Turner $1,000 in cash during a handshake.

When Turner's own attorney asked him whether he accepted five $100 bills and ten $50 bills from Wilburn in exchange for helping him get a liquor license, the councilor seemed incredulous.

"I've never had that kind of money given to me,'' he said. "Why would somebody be giving me that kind of money? . . . It would have been such a strange situation that it would have created a memory. If somebody gave me $60, I would have to give them back $10 and give the rest of the money to [the campaign].''

Under state election law, individuals cannot give more than $50 in cash to a political candidate or a check exceeding $500 in a particular year.

At another point, Turner explained that he meets with 50 to 60 constituents at his district office each month on Fridays, making it difficult to remember every encounter.

The Globe reports that Turner's defense team appeared dejected after his testimony. They had warned him not to take the stand after the government rested its case yesterday. His testimony is scheduled to resume on Wednesday.

Turner was arrested at City Hall on Nov. 21, 2008, less than a month after state Senator Dianne Wilkerson was charged in a related investigation for taking $23,500 in bribes from Wilburn and undercover FBI agents. Wilkerson, the main target of the sting, resigned her seat and pleaded guilty in June. She awaits sentencing.

Turner is on trial on charges of attempted extortion and three counts of lying to FBI agents who interviewed him the day of Wilkerson's arrest about the $1,000 bribe he allegedly received 14 months earlier.

Local businessman Ronald Wilburn concluded three days of lively testimony at the trial of Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner and then predicted that Turner will be convicted of lying to FBI agents, according to the Boston Globe. Wilburn, 71, was an undercover informant for the FBI during an investigation that netted Turner and former state senator Dianne Wilkerson.

Turner is on trial for attempted extortion for allegedly accepting a $1,000 cash bribe from Wilburn and for lying to FBI agents for allegedly telling them that he did not know Wilburn, and that he and Wilburn never discussed setting up a fund-raiser for the Roxbury councilor.

Jurors saw secretly recorded videotape of the two men meeting in Aug. 3, 2007, and of Wilburn as he allegedly handed over cash to Turner.

On the stand, Wilburn clashed with Turner defense attorney Barry P. Wilson and also used props to show what happened to the paper money as he allegedly handed cash to Turner while being questioned by a federal prosecutor. During questioning, Wilson effectively accused Wilburn of going to work for the FBI because he was in dire financial straits. Wilburn was paid about $30,000 by the government for his work.

But Wilburn insisted his finances were in good shape when he agreed to become cooperating witness because his wife had a $70,000 a year job with Fidelity Investments and adult daughter was working for the PetSmart chain earning $55,000 a year.

However, Wilburn also acknowledged that his wife lost her job in the fall of 2008 - just about the time that Wilkerson was arrested on corruption charges.

Wilburn accused authorities of deliberately unmasking him in as a cooperating witness in a Globe article on Nov. 10, 2008. The Globe reported that Wilburn was the unidentified man who gave Wilkerson $6,500 in secretly videotaped payoffs, leading to her arrest two weeks earlier. The unmasking was based on interviews with three associates of Wilkerson. Assistant US Attorney John T. McNeil confronted Wilburn about whether he himself put his name in the media long before that. Wilburn was the subject of a Globe column in July 2007 -- when he was secretly cooperating with the FBI -- about his inability to obtain a liquor license for a supper club he wanted to open in Roxbury.

I tend to agree with the Boston Globe editorial pages and columnist Derrick Jackson --- a "NO" vote on Question One in Nov. 2 is prudent, thereby keeping the 6.25 tax on alcoholic beverages.

According to the state Department of Revenue, the tax raised $97 million in fiscal year 2010. It is projected to rise to $110 million in fiscal year 2011. Already, in the first quarter of the new fiscal 2011, the sales tax brought in $33.2 million, $4 million more than what was projected. The numbers further suggest that sales of alcohol at liquor stores have not substantially declined.

As Jackson notes, the sales tax on liquor has notable benefits. It is dedicated to state substance abuse programs. Michael Botticelli, state director of substance abuse services, says the taxes have insulated his department from deeper cuts. Further, the tax may discourage younger drinkers, since higher taxes on tobacco and alcohol have an effect on underage consumers, who are price-sensitive.

Bottom-line: the funds raised through the alcohol tax are used for programs to reduce teen drinking and for treatment services to help people beat addictions and get their lives back on track. Those are admirable goals and programs, which should be encouraged.

The Boston Globe reports on the quixotic quest of a Raynham laundromat in Massachusetts which seeks to become the first business in the Commonwealth to serve alcohol while customers wash their clothes.

On Wednesday, town officials will attend an appeals hearing before the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission to make sure local business owner George Moniz remains unable to serve his customers alcoholic drinks at the Raynham Laundry Center on South Street West. Moniz, who has owned the laundromat for five years, in March unsuccessfully pitched a plan to serve beer and wine during a liquor license hearing held by the selectmen.

In March, Moniz told selectmen his plan to serve beer and wine was part of an effort to make the business more customer-friendly: Patrons could tip back a brew while watching their laundry. Plenty of area restaurants provide food delivery, he argued, so customers could send out for snacks to accompany their drinks.

But selectmen didn't buy the pitch, denying Moniz's application even though he is a licensed bartender and had brought along several loyal laundromat customers who enthusiastically voiced their support for the beer and wine proposal.

"I had letters of support from several businesses,'' Moniz told the Globe. "They unjustifiably said no.''

Moniz appealed the denial to the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission early in the summer. The panel noted that Raynham selectmen had failed to provide a written statement of reasons for denying Moniz's application, which is required under state law, and sent a directive to local officials to produce that document.

The selectmen last month sent a four-page list of reasons for their denial drawn up by their attorney, Marc Antine, to both Moniz and the state, and the hearing was set for Wednesday.

The board said among its reasons for turning down the application were the inability of Moniz's staff to adequately supervise and control customers consuming alcohol due to the laundromat's layout and the lack of an indication of where the alcohol would be stored or whether a dishwasher would be installed to clean glasses and dishware.

The board also said customers sitting at tables near the door could easily step out to the parking lot with a drink. The selectmen also stated that the addition of alcohol service to the laundromat would create a zoning violation, because the operation would then have insufficient parking under the town's bylaws for businesses serving alcohol.

The requirement for a restaurant or bar is one parking space for every two seats, a change from the laundromat's requirement, which is one parking space for every 200 square feet of business space.

"The board will not grant an alcoholic beverage pouring license that would create a violation of the zoning bylaws,'' the selectmen said in their statement.

The Boston Globe reported that Brookline selectmen last week delivered warnings to two businesses and punished another after they were caught selling alcohol to minors during a police sting operation last month.

The board's decision to suspend Mall Discount Liquors' alcohol sales license for 10 days will cost the Harvard Street business more than $40,000 in lost receipts, according to Steven Boris, a lawyer representing the store's owner.

The business received the suspension because last month's citation was its second liquor-license violation in a year, officials said.

The board also chided the two first-time violators before giving both of them a three-day suspension, held for a year.

Christopher Hogan, manager of the Meat House at 1285 Beacon St., and Ricky Patel, owner of Village Liquor & Convenience at 294 Washington St., expressed contrition for the Sept. 15 sales to the student working with police. Both provided documents showing new employee training and policies since the sting.

The Waltham News Tribune reports that, following multiple infractions, the liquor license held by Paisano Restaurant and Bar on High Street was suspended for seven days, unless the owners pay a monetary penalty instead.

License Commission chairman Wayne Brasco told the paper that liquor licenses are a privilege and Paisano's were "frequent abusers of that privilege."

One incident motivating the suspension, said Brasco, occurred when a police officer tried to arrest a person involved in a disturbance and it ended in a scuffle outside the restaurant.

The restaurant "did not respond too quickly to help the officer that was in jeopardy," said Brasco. Someone at Paisano should have called 911, he said, because it is the restaurant's responsibility as licensee.

Brasco also said a man fell asleep at the bar this year. The restaurant did not try to revive him until closing time, he said, and couldn't get him out of the building. Paisano has appeared before the License Commission at least four times this year for infractions, Brasco said. The license will be suspended from Nov. 1 through Nov. 7.

The restaurant is also required to close at 11 p.m. for 30 days and its entertainment license was suspended for 60 days. The restaurant offers live music, according to its website.

Brasco said the restaurant could also pay a cash fine in lieu of the suspensions.

The Stoughton Board of Selectmen has given Pete's Place owner Peter Bersani another month to sell his liquor license, although some board members were reluctant to give the extension, as reported by the Wicked Local Stoughton website.

Bersani now has until Nov. 9 to sell the license or it will get revoked, with the town taking it back and Bersani receiving no money for it.

The restaurant in Stoughton Center closed in April, just over a year after it first opened, and Bersani has been trying to sell his license ever since. He said he has a buyer who is ready and willing to purchase it - the landlord of the Shaw's Plaza in Stoughton - but the landlord said he cannot buy a liquor license until he has a lease signed.

The town can revoke the license because it has been out of use for more than six months, and with a limited number allowed in the town, officials want to give another business a chance to open its doors.

The Wellesley Board of Selectmen has levied a two-day suspension on the Italo-American Educational Club's liquor license for two days in November due to violations stemming from an investigation of an incident that took place in summer.

Wellesley Police responded to reports of a fight in the parking lot of the club, located at 80 Oak St., the night of July 6, according to Wellesley Police Deputy Chief William Brooks. As the officers investigated the incident, they observed violations of town and state regulations.

The violations involved locked front doors and lack of ability to immediately presentpolice on scene with a manager charge at the time, both violations of town regulations. Also, police noticed the two people involved in the altercation were intoxicated; Brooks said continuing to serve alcohol to someone who is intoxicated is a violation of Massachusetts general laws as well as the town of Wellesley's liquor laws.

The club has apparently corrected these violations since the incident. They have hung clearly labeled, appropriately sized signs in plain view upon entrance to the club noting the club managers, and they have continued to keep the front doors unlocked during hours in which people are on the premises.

The New York Times reports on a growing trend in the United States where more states are allowing guns in restaurants and bars, where alcohol is served.

Tennessee is one of four states, along with Arizona, Georgia and Virginia, that recently enacted laws explicitly allowing loaded guns in bars. Eighteen other states allow weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol. The new laws have also brought to light the status of 20 other states -- Massachusetts and New York among them -- that do not address the question, thereby appearing by default to allow those with permits to carry guns into establishments that serve alcohol, according to the Legal Community Against Violence, a non-profit group that promotes gun control and tracks state gun laws.

The Hi-Way Farm Market and Package Store in Chelmsford may live to see another day after the owner settled his tax bill with the commonwealth. Although an auction of a seven-day, all alcoholic beverage package store license was set to begin at 11 a.m., potential bidders were turned away after the sale was canceled at the last minute, according to chelmsfordmassnews.com.

"We were trying to make the decision if we would keep it or not," said Dino Vrouhas. "We decided to because it's a good investment."
On Aug. 11, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue seized the license from owner Spiro Vrouhas for non-payment of $27,200 in back state taxes.
"We're going to reopen within a month," Dino Vrouhas said Thursday.
Back in July, the Board of Selectmen held a hearing on revoking Vrouhas' license after the store had been shuttered. At that time, Dino Vrouhas said the family planned to reopen the store but was dealing with health and refinancing issues.

The Vrouhas family sold the property at 259-261 Littleton Road but retained the liquor license. Town Manager Paul Cohen told the website said Vrouhas must appear before the Board of Selectmen and demonstrate he has the legal right to the license.

Jae's Spice Restaurant is asking the state ABCC to overturn its three-day liquor license suspension from the city of Piitsfield, according to the Berkshire Eagle.

The Pittsfield Licensing Board handed down the punishment last month, claiming the downtown establishment used "bad judgment" in hosting a birthday party that allegedly involved underage drinking.

North Street Market Place LLC, which holds Jae's all-alcohol restaurant license, has filed an appeal with the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission asking the state agency to lift the suspension. The ABCC has scheduled an appeals hearing for this week.

The Pittsfield Licensing Board's ruling on Aug. 30 came following a show/cause hearing on Jae's license to discuss allegations regarding the July 11 incident. The party took place between 8:45 and 10:30 p.m., in a second-floor banquet hall that is located above the ground floor eatery.

According to Pittsfield Police, Karen Victorin, a hostess at Jae's, held the non-alcoholic 18th birthday party for her son.

The Board was apparently motivated to levy the three-day suspension partly because the Press Box, which also operated by North Market Place LLC, had received a similar penalty in early July. Action on that decision had been suspended, provided the Press Box avoided any further liquor license violations.

The Boston Globe reports that an inspector for the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission from Melrose who was arrested in July for allegedly taking a bribe in exchange for obtaining a liquor license has been indicted in Superior Court.

Arthur Hitchman, 39, was indicted by a Middlesex grand jury on charges of attempted extortion, soliciting, and accepting a corrupt gift to influence an official act, solicitation to commit the receiving of stolen property, and two counts of improper storage of a firearm. His arraignment in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn is scheduled for Oct. 8.

The charges stem from Hitchman's July 13 arrest after State Police investigators assigned to the office of Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone conducted a sting that the DA says shows Hitchman accepted a $3,000 bribe to secure a liquor license for an unnamed convicted felon.

The felon was allegedly attempting to open a restaurant in Everett. According to authorities, the Everett man had planned to run his business and obtain the liquor license using the name of a female relative.

Hitchman intervened, according to the DA, offering to help obtain the license for $3,000 in cash. An undercover state trooper, posing as the female relative's husband, met Hitchman May 18 to delivery the money, which the DA said he accepted. According to the DA, authorities have documented conversations between Hitchman and the undercover officer in which Hitchman admitted to altering the Everett restaurateur's license application to ensure its passage by commission.

Hitchman also allegedly offered to sell the undercover officer illegal video poker machines worth thousands of dollars. Hitchman allegedly suggested that the machines could be used to generate illegal profit at the Everett restaurant.

Lavo Ristorante & Lounge has received a three-day suspension and license rollback to 1 a.m. as punishment for alleged violations on the premises, according to the Saugus Advertiser.

The Board of Selectmen called a show-cause hearing last week to determine whether Lavo merits disciplinary action for events that occurred at the Route 1 restaurant/club on July 3 and July 4. Board members heard testimony from police officers who reported music was playing at Lavo on July 3 after the 1 a.m. permitted time. On July 4 police also observed patrons consuming alcohol on a patio more than an hour after the license allows.

The board voted 4-0 to issue Lavo a three-day suspension spanning Oct. 14-16. As part of the motion the selectmen rolled back the establishment's liquor license by one hour -- so last call at 12:30 a.m., everyone off the premises by 1 a.m. -- and revoked the license that permits alcohol to be served on the patio.

Last month the selectmen suspended Lavo's licenses for two days -- Sept. 9-10 -- after an inspection uncovered interior work done on site without permission and the establishment closing without notifying the board.

The Braintree Forum reports that a business called Wine Nation may appeal to the Superior Court an ABCC decision upholding the town of Braintree's decision to deny the wine "superstore" an all-alcohol license.

Maryland businessman Thomas Trone is seeking to open Wine Nation, a 21,000-square-foot "wine superstore" that would have about 50 employees, in the empty building on 160 Granite St., formerly occupied by Linens n' Things. Trone, represented by Gerald Caruso, asked the ABCC to review the town of Braintree's decision denying his application.

Trone argued that Wine Nation was denied a license due to inaccurate information about traffic, invalid concern about competition, and bias shown by officials, but in its nine-page Sept. 14 ruling, the ABCC found that the board acted within the law and its authority.

"A local board holds broad discretion to determine whether a license to sell alcoholic beverages shall issue," the commission wrote. "The Appeals Court has held that a local board may deny a license even if the facts show that a license could be lawfully granted. A local board exercises very broad judgment about public convenience and public good with respect to whether to issue a license to sell alcoholic beverages."

The decision concluded, "In this case before the commission, the Braintree local board fulfilled its obligation to state the reasons for its decision. On the basis of the opposition to the application, the Braintree board was persuaded that there was no public need for the license for which the application was filed. The reasons for denial were based on the facts found by the local board based on information presented during the course of the public hearing. Based on the exhibits and testimony by members of the local board, the commission approves the action of the local board in denying the application."

Under state law, the ABCC's ruling may be appealed to Superior Court within 30 days.

Trone recently opened a Wine Nation store in Millbury. State law limits the number of licenses to three (3) that any one business can own for premises where liquor cannot be consumed on the premises, such as a wine store or supermarket.

GateHouse News Service is reporting that the Ryanham selectmen voted unanimously last week to revoke the liquor license of Joe T's Pub on South Street East.

Owner Karen Thomas closed the pub in May 2008. Selectmen Chairwoman Marie Smith told GateHouse that revoking the all-alcoholic beverage license "is long overdue." Selectman Joseph Pacheco also noted that the vacant building was becoming an eyesore.
"There's graffiti now on the building, and the license could be put to better use," he said.

Other businesses in town are apparently waiting in line to apply for the liquor license.