[Chat] Liquor license transfer -- special meeting 1/23

Emil Volcheck volcheck at acm.org
Fri Jan 18 00:12:07 EST 2008


Hello, neighbors,

I'm forwarding this message that Bonnie Bessor sent to the AIA
membership about a special meeting to discuss a liquor license
transfer off Greenmount Ave.

The would-be owners of this restaurant came to the last AIA membership
meeting to make their case, and I thought I'd share some of my
impressions.  First, they want to put a nice restaurant where the
Antique Attic is.  The Antique Attic just looks like an eyesore to me
-- I've never been in it.  Adding an upscale restaurant would be good
for the Greenmount community.  Second, the owners were very
sympathetic.  They are recent immigrants (Ukrainian, I think?), have
experience in the business, and have some investment capital lined up.
It will take a lot to convert the Antique Attic.  I wish them a lot of
luck.

The downside is that they said they want to keep the full liquor
license because you can earn a pretty good profit running a package
store that is open until 2 AM.  AIA Members told the owners that they
didn't want to see another nuisance in the neighborhood.  The owners
said, well, why would we invest so much money turning this into a nice
restaurant if we just wanted to turn a quick buck selling liquor, and
we can't make the business plan work for a nice restaurant if we can't
sell liquor, because the area around Greenmount can't support an
upscale restaurant, just by itself.

I'm ambivalent about this.  It would be unfortunate if the owners are
genuinely responsible and end up not being able to get the loans or
investment they need to start the business because they can't make the
business plan work without liquor sales.  On the other hand, they may
have no clue what they're getting into, might make a mess of it, don't
know about the disaster that was Phaze III, and don't realize that
there's a "burden of proof" on them to earn the trust of the
community.

I'm sending this to both Chat and Discussion.  This might be
sufficiently "political" that we should take further discussion to,
well, the Discussion List.

Thanks,

--Emil


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bonnie Bessor <bonnie at rtbaltimore.org>
Date: Jan 16, 2008 10:59 PM
Subject: [AIA Members] Special General Membership Meeting
announcement--Meeting Jan 23 7:00pm
To: members at abellimprovement.org
Cc: "Clarke, Mary Pat" <mclarke at baltimorecitycouncil.com>, "Michelle
W. Pierce" <michellep at communitylaw.org>


AIA members--there will be a special general membership meeting
Wednesday January 23, 7:00pm at Changing Directions-422 E. 31st
Street. The meeting has been called by a vote of the AIA Executive
Committee. This meeting is to discuss the transfer of a BD7 Liquor
License to the 415-421 E. 32nd Street and is a follow-up to the
presentation made at the November 2007 AIA general membership meeting
by the owners of the liquor license.

In short, the Liquor Board hearing for the transfer of the license is
scheduled for Thursday January 24th at 3:00pm at City Hall.  A BD7
license is defined as a "tavern" license and allows liquor sales 7
days/week, 6am to 2am, both on premises sales and package good sales.
There is no food service requirement with a BD7 license. The owners of
the license state they want to open a high-end seafood restaurant but
would have free reign to use the full BD7 license if no restrictions
were placed upon the license. The owners have clearly stated that they
want to retain the right to sell package goods.  AIA and the Charles
Village Civic Association have contracted with the Community Law
Center (CLC) to attempt to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) with the owners that would place voluntary restrictions on the
license.  There is a chance that the owners will reject the MOU.  The
meeting on Jan 23 is to discuss AIA's general stance and what our
approach will be if the MOU is rejected.

As much of the membership knows, the residents in close proximity to
Greenmount Avenue (this includes me) already experience multiple
disturbances and trash/sanitation issues as a result of the current
liquor selling establishments in the 3100 and 3200 blocks of
Greenmount Avenue. The address where this license is proposed to be
transfered is just off Greenmount Avenue and there is the danger that
the problems will increase if another BD7 license is added to the mix
without restrictions.

We also need residents to attend the Liquor Board hearing on January
24th at 3:00pm if they are available.

Our City Council representative, Mary Pat Clarke, has been working
closely with the community on this issue.

If anyone has any questions about this issue, or the meeting, please
feel free to email me, or call me at 410-916-1062.

-- 
Bonnie Bessor
412 E. 31st Street

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