Board ponders Saugus liquor grant

SAUGUS – The state Alcohol Beverage Control Commission is considering whether to grant a Cliftondale convenience store a liquor license to sell beer and wine.Lawyers for and against Town Food Mart’s request to sell Asian beer and wine in its Lincoln Avenue store made their case before the ABCC Wednesday.Selectmen voted against the request in December, prompting Food Mart’s attorney Eric Jarosz to appeal the decision.The town has six beer and wine licenses, but declined to grant one to the convenience store for a variety of reasons, including the barrage of opposition it received after granting a similar permit to a White Hen Pantry in the fall.The ABCC nixed the White Hen’s license for reasons of its own and Town Council John Vasapolli is betting that it will deny this one as well.Vasapolli pointed out that the Board of Selectmen that denied Food Mart’s request has a different make-up than the one that approved White Hen’s request.”There are two new members,” he said, adding that at the time of the public hearing, there was no opposition to White Hen’s request.Food Mart’s request, however, was met with massive opposition from clergy members, residents, members of Saugus Speaks Out and the Police Department.”In fact,” Vasapolli said, “there wasn’t one person that spoke in favor of Food Mart.”Jarosz said he believes the license application was essentially identical to the White Hen’s application, which set precedent.According to Jarosz, both applications claimed the liquor would be kept in locked storage areas and the stores would obtain identification confirmation readers, which are said to be nearly foolproof in catching fake ID’s.Jarosz also argued that while the board denied the application based on a lack of public need, concerns over increased traffic and concerns with minors having access to the alcohol, its case was weak.But the board also took into account opposition in the form of a letter from the Clergy Association.Vasapolli said there is a statute requiring churches to be notified if a liquor store wants to open within 500 feet.”There have to be specific findings made to allow for it and those weren’t made,” he said.Jarosz maintains his arguments – that the store was filling a niche since it would only carry Asian wines and malts, there was no evidence traffic would be an issue and that the proximity to a minor should not be a basis for denial – are more than valid.After researching the issue, Jarosz said he could find no case law to support denying a liquor license on the basis of proximity to minors. He also pointed out that New Hampshire and Maine allow alcohol to be sold in nearly every gas station and convenience store and wondered why it was so frowned upon in Massachusetts.Vasapolli, however, said it was his impression that selling beer and wine in convenience stores and gas stations was precisely the route the board was trying to avoid.”It’s nothing discriminatory,” Vasapolli added. “No one’s trying to hurt these people.”Selectman Peter Rossetti also attended the hearing, but Vasapolli said after submitting a mountain of opposition letters and written testimony, it was decided that Rossetti would not need to testify.The commission has taken the matter under advisement, which Vasapolli said is standard.”I don’t know when it will rule and I didn’t ask,” Vasapolli admitted. “I didn’t want to aggravate them.”