PEABODY — The Albanian Boston Community Inc. club, located at 26 Howley St., is fighting a unanimous decision of the City Council at a Feb. 23 public hearing to suspend the club’s special permit for three months.
The club filed an appeal in Essex County Superior Court on Friday, March 17, seeking to overturn the suspension. The complaint claims that neither state law nor the city’s zoning ordinance “empowers [the council] to revoke or suspend a special permit once the same has been issued” and that “no provision of the special permit under review provided that the permit could be suspended or revoked for a violation of any of its terms or conditions.”
Specifically, the club seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction staying the decision of the council to suspend the permit until the appeal can be heard in full. It also seeks a judgment declaring that the council’s decision to suspend the license “is legally untenable, is whimsical, arbitrary and capricious and/or is otherwise unlawful” and that the council “has no lawful authority to revoke or suspend a special permit once it is issued.”
The complaint alleges that the three-month suspension “threatens the very existence of Boston Albanian Community, Inc.’s business, and thus threatens them with immediate and irreparable harm” and that unless the court grants preliminary equitable relief, the club “will face the annihilation of its business long before the present appeal can wind its way to conclusion and decision.”
The complaint further states that a grant of equitable relief causes “no harm to at all” to the city but for a delay in enforcement of its decision.
The council granted a special permit to the club on Jan. 27, 2022 “to operate a community, cultural and recreational center as a not for-profit corporation in a GBD Zoning District at said 26 Howley St.” The permit was issued upon the condition that there would be no sales or consumption of alcohol on the premises.
During a Feb. 23 show cause hearing before the council, Peabody Police Lt. David Bonfanti told the council that Councilor at-Large Tom Gould called the police on Dec. 27 and said he was “concerned” that there was drinking and gambling at the club. Bonfanti said that the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission conducted an on-site investigation and found a male with a bottle of Budweiser Light and empty boxes of Heineken beer bottles. They also observed alcohol “in plain view” in a bar refrigerator and receipts for “premium” beverages.
Club attorney John Keilty said his clients apologize for the violation. He said the club went from “absolutely fledgling” to being a “hot commodity after 250 new families joined the club in November 2022. He asked the council for leniency but then said he planned to apply for an amendment to the permit to “do away with the prohibition [against alcohol] and then allow us to apply for a liquor license.”
Several councilors were not buying into the club’s explanations. Ward 3 Councilor Stephanie Peach, who made the motion to suspend and assess a $200 fine, was particularly vocal in showing her dissatisfaction with the club’s actions.
“The Council may have had a different stance on the special permit when we were talking about this if alcohol had been brought up and if your client had been forthcoming about the intent to have alcohol on the premises,” she said to Keilty.
“We gave them very clear rules. We’ve gone through entertainment licenses where there were 17 conditions. Here, there were two, and they didn’t follow the main one. I do think there are consequences when rules are violated,” Peach said.
Councilor-at-Large Jon Turco said he would not be in favor of amending the special permit. He claims to have seen “quite a few videos” showing what he believed to be alcohol at a New Year’s Eve party just days after the police department issued a cease-and-desist order on Dec. 30.
Ward 5 Councilor Dave Gamache said the club’s actions are “a slap in the face to the City Council.”
Councilor-at-Large Tom Rossignoll said “there is no way this is a one-time [violation] and […] it was mentioned over and over again at the [special permit] hearing that there would be no alcohol.”
Club founder Endri Kume apologized on behalf of its members. He said the club started out with a handful of members, but membership grew to 300 members in late 2022. He admitted that the club operates solely on volunteer labor.
“The biggest punishment for me personally is that we let down all of those families,” Kume said. “We could have handled it differently, we did not know there would be so many people [who joined] … and the inexperience plays a big part of it.”
Once again, Peach was not buying it.
“This isn’t ‘someone had a party and made a mistake,’ ” Peach contended. “This was very well thought out. The place that you are at shares the building with a church. Does that seem like an appropriate place for a social club [with alcohol served]?”
“This wasn’t someone who brought in a six-pack […] into a social club after a long day of work or some Sambuca in their coffee the day before Thanksgiving. There were social media posts. We gave you one rule, you agreed to it and you broke it,” Peach said.
Under the council’s decision, the club must submit a business plan to the council that includes a provision for on-site managers to be present at all times during operating hours.
