ABCC sides with Saugus, denies liquor license

SAUGUS-The Alcohol Beverage Control Commission sided with the Board of Selectmen Tuesday when it upheld a ruling that denied a liquor license for the Cliftondale Square convenience store.Town Counsel John Vasapolli said he received notice Tuesday that the commission voted to approve the action of the board.Selectmen voted in December to deny the Lincoln Avenue Town Food Mart the right to sell Asian beer and wines. The move prompted the store- owner’s attorney, Eric Jarosz, to file an appeal with the ABCC.The town has six beer and wine licenses but declined to grant one to the convenience store for reasons that included parking and traffic issues, as well as proximity to churches and youth.The fact that the board faced a barrage of opposition after it granted a similar license to the Lincoln Avenue White Hen Pantry last fall also played into its decision.Vasapolli predicted the ABCC would side with the town despite Jarosz’s argument that it would go the other way.Jarosz said he believed that the liquor applications of both the White Hen Pantry and the Food Mart were nearly identical. While the town approved the White Hen’s bid for a liquor license, the ABCC nixed it for reasons of its own. Jarosz said he was sure that role would be reversed with Food Mart.Vasapolli argued that the board took into account the wave of public opposition that included a letter from the Clergy Association. It also took into consideration the statute that requires churches to be notified if a liquor store wants to open up within 500 feet. In the case of Food Mart, there are two churches nearby and both were opposed to it.Jarosz said he believed because the store was seeking to sell only Asian beers and wines it was filling a niche, but that apparently did not hold up.