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Date: 7/22/2022
LONGMEADOW – A routine liquor license hearing at the July 17 Select Board meeting became a debate over how many alcohol-serving establishments should be allowed in any one area of town.
Benson Hyde, co-owner of Oxbow Wines, came before the board to seek a liquor license for its new location in The Longmeadow Shops. Oxbow Wines sells fine wines, craft beer and has a cut-to-order “higher-end gourmet” cheese counter. There will likely be wine tastings, which Town Manager Lyn Simmons confirmed are allowed under a retail license.
The business also has locations in Northampton and Amherst. Select Board Chair Joshua Levine asked if there had been any violations of the liquor license at the other two locations. Hyde explained that there was one incident of “a sting” in which an employee was caught selling to a minor, but he said it was nearly a decade ago and nothing similar had happened since.
“We take [violations] very seriously in Longmeadow,” Levine told him. Likewise, Select Board Clerk Mark Gold “guaranteed” that there would be at least one undercover check each year. Hyde assured the board that all managers are Training for Intervention ProcedureS (TIPS) and Safe-Serve trained.
Hyde told the board that there would be between three and five employees working there, depending on customer needs. Levine encouraged Hyde to finalize a floor plan before sending the application to the state, otherwise, he said it would be rejected.
Under M.G.L. Title XX, Ch. 138, S16c, the location of The Longmeadow Shops, within 500-feet of Longmeadow High School, requires the board to issue a finding that the business is not a detriment to “educational activities.”
Select Board member Thomas Lachiusa opined that there are already too many alcohol-serving establishments at The Longmeadow Shops. Levine explained repeatedly that other businesses or “competition” in the area cannot be used as grounds for denying the license.
Lachiusa then argued that the state law prohibits the alcohol-seller’s establishment in that location. He quoted the first part of the text that a business, “located within a radius of five hundred feet of a school or church shall not be licensed for the sale of alcoholic beverages.” Levine pushed back on that, reciting the continuation of that sentence, “unless the local licensing authority determines in writing and after a hearing that the premises are not detrimental to the educational and spiritual activities of said school or church.”
Lachiusa countered, “That’s not how I read it.” He expressed concerns that alcohol sellers would set up shops all over town.
The state provides each municipality with a limited number of licenses. Administrative Assistant Mike Barbieri reported that the town has multiple unused licenses ranging from full liquor stores to wine and beer stores, to restaurants that serve alcohol.
Hyde interjected that Oxbow Wines would not have the same service as the restaurants that sell alcohol in The Longmeadow Shops. Oxbow Wines would offer take-away retail service, rather than on-site consumption.
Select Board member Dan Zwirko said that he had visited one of the other Oxbow Wines locations and found it to “do a good job.” He noted the town needs more tax revenue and the business would provide that.
Gold reasoned that with the loss of The Bottle Shop from a November 2021 fire, there were no other locations offering the sale of bottled wine and beer for home consumption.
Levine quipped that high school students could not afford Oxbow Wines’s products.
Lachiusa commented that he had seen alcohol destroy families, and that more alcohol sellers would damage the “character of the town.”
Despite this, the board voted 4-1 in favor of the liquor license, with Lachiusa as the dissenting vote.
DEI Advisory Committee
Assistant Town Manager and Director of Planning & Community Development Corrin Miese-Munns presented research on the establishment of a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Advisory Committee. The impetus to examine such a committee was the “Combating Racism In Longmeadow” report issued in spring 2021 by the Longmeadow Coalition for Racial Justice Task Force.
Meise-Munns explained that the scope of such a body could be external-facing and deal with racism in the community, or internal-facing and focus on steps town employees and leaders can take to make the town departments more equitable. There are also models that do both, she said.
Irrespective of the model chosen, Meise-Munns said the membership should reflect all aspects of diversity in town, including gender, race and ability.
Her recommendation was to establish an external-facing DEI Advisory Committee because nearly all the testimonials from residents cited by the task force were incidents within the community, rather than among town offices or departments.
That said, Meise-Munns also recommended a DEI Working Group to focus on the internal-facing issues. She said these challenges may be more manageable with concrete steps, such as keeping diversity in mind when hiring or promoting and examining policies for unintended biases. Racism and micro-aggressions within the community are much more difficult to tackle, she said, adding, “How do you stop racism at the supermarket?”
While the Human Resources (HR) department would be part of the working group, Meise-Munns emphasized that it would not be their sole authority. To do so would “absolve” the rest of the town from its responsibility. When asked by Gold, she explained that grievances would still go through HR. The working group would attend to policy and pursue changes as needed.
Meise-Munns was instructed to draft a charge for the soon-to-be created committee.
Select Board Vacancy
The board discussed whether to call an election to fill the board seat left vacant by Steve Marantz’s departure. Gold said that the minimum time between calling an election and conducting one is 92 days, due to legal requirement. This would put the election no sooner than Oct. 18.
Conducting an election is a financially substantial endeavor, costing thousands of dollars to print ballots, secure a police detail and hire poll workers. Rather than go through this undertaking, Gold suggested the Select Board run with four members until the annual town election in June. He said votes are rarely split 3-2, so it is unlikely the board will deadlock on any issues.
Levine agreed, reminding the board that the town does not have a permanent replacement for recently departed Town Clerk Kathy Ingram.
Zwirko asked why the election cannot be conducted at the same time as the general election in November, eliminating some of the costs. Simmons said there would need to be two ballots – one for the state and national races and another for the municipal seat. Additionally, Gold said, the voting machines are programmed to read the general election ballots and more machines would be needed for the municipal ballots.
“It’s not impossible, but it would come at a great expense,” Simmons said.
If residents want an election to be called, a petition with 200 valid voter signatures is required to be submitted to the town clerk’s office.