City of Salem, MA - June 11, 2012

June 11, 2012


	Meeting: Salem Licensing Board was held Monday, June 11, 2012 at 6:00 pm in the third floor conference room, 120 Washington Street. Present were members Robert St. Pierre, Chairman and John Casey, Rick Lee, Investigator for the Board, Peter Baglioni and Melissa Pagliaro, Clerk. City Solicitor Elizabeth Rennard was also present. Approved: New regulations, fee and application for Street Performers. The Board then approved the following applications. All applicants said they read and understood the regulations and signed the tear off sheet. Daniel Kupka Steve Martin Kevin Stirnweis – no show Yvan Pierre Marlier Phil Wyman Stephen Marcotte Joseph Croteau Ryan Sullivan – no show Kevin Leahy Sean Leahy Michael LoPresti Maria LoPresti Paul Harty – no show Joseph Forristall Odyssey Mihali – no show Aiden Scrimgeour Alfred Nesser Tim Levesque Royal Sorrel Michael Milan Simon Zavlasky Dan Covino – no show Approved: One day blanket vendor license. Applicant: Salem Coast Watch Swim & Fin. Present: Michael Medlock. Mr. Medlock said that this is the 7^th year and nothing is changing. Mr. Casey said everything looks to be in good order. Mr. Casey motioned to approve. Mr. Lee seconded. Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Approved: Application for One Day License. Applicant: Witch’s Cup Bike Race. Present: Dan Shuman Mr. Shuman said this is the 6^th year for the race and the 3^rd year with the beer tent which he said will be sponsored by Wachussett. He said there will be 19 officers throughout the common and barrier fencing around the tent. He said they will limit beers to 4 and use a wrist band to do so. He said he like to ask to only have 2 detail officers for the tent area instead of three. Mr. St. Pierre asked what Det. Baglioni thought about the two officers. Det. Baglioni said he thought that was fine. Mr. Casey motioned to approve. Mr. Lee seconded Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Approved: Application for the renewal of a Store Fortunetelling License and renewal of a sub-licensee, Helene Olsen. Applicant: A Higher Balance Healing Center. Present: Judy Copp, owner and Helene Olsen. Mr. Casey asked Ms. Copp how many years she has had a license. Ms. Copp said this is her 4^th. Ms. Olsen said she has been reading in Salem for 5 years and that she is a medium and a tarot reader. Mr. Casey motioned to approve. Mr. Lee seconded. Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Approved: Application for 2 (two) fortunetelling sublicenses for Witch’s Hide for Sue Gleason and Linda Munroe. Present: Delilah Bettencourt and Linda Munroe. Ms. Munroe said she has been at Witch’s hide for two years and she used to own her own shop. Ms. Bettencourt said this will be Ms. Gleason’s first year with her but she has read at other places in Salem. Mr. Casey motioned to approve. Mr. Lee seconded Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Approved: Application for a Store Fortunetelling License and a sub licensee. Applicant: Present: Darel Bennet representing Ann & Ellen. Approved: Application for a sub licensee Fortunetelling License at New England Magic. Applicant; Linda Weinbaum. Mr. Casey asked Ms. Weinbaum how long she has been doing readings. Ms. Weinbaum said for over 30 years. Mr. Casey motioned to approve. Mr. Lee seconded. Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Approved: Application for two (2) sub licensee fortunetelling licenses for Crow Haven Corner. Applicant: Jody Cabot and Debra Freeman. Ms. Cabot said she has been doing psychic counseling for the last 32 years and was one of the founders of Crow Haven Corner. Ms. Freeman said she has been a reader for the last 10 years. Mr. Casey motioned to approve. Mr. Lee seconded Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Approved: Application to renew Store Fortunetelling License and for a sub licensee fortune telling license.. Applicant: HEX. Present: Lynn Donovan, manager and Gail Frye. Ms. Donovan said she managed the store for Christian. Mr. Casey asked her how long she has been there. Ms. Donovan said three years. Ms. Donovan said that Ms. Frye was moving from OMEN to HEX. Mr. Casey asked what she does. M s. Frye said she does a few things including tarot readings. Mr. Casey motioned to approve. Mr. Lee seconded. Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Approved: Application for a sub licensee fortunetelling license at OMEN. Applicant: Nicole Green. Ms. Green said that she has read at Christians fair for the last 4 years. Mr. Casey motioned to approve. Mr. Lee seconded. Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Continued: Application for Class II Auto Dealers License. Applicant: Adam’s Auto, 97 Ocean Ave. Present: Adam and Wendy Werner, owners. Mr. Werner said he recently purchased the building and has been in business for 24 years in Salem. He said he used to be the other end of Canal Street. Mr. Casey said that his business is on a main entrance corridor of the City and it needs to be cleaned up. Ms. Werner said that they have been cleaning and weeding for the last two days and said they just had the entire building painted. Mr. Casey said that his recommendation is to continue this application until the property is adequately cleaned up. Mr. Werner said he is not sure what Mr. Casey is talking about. Mr. Casey said he is concerned about the appearance of the exterior. Mr. St. Pierre suggested that Det. Baglioni go and check the premise out and report back top the board and this will be continued until the August 2 meeting. Mr. Casey motioned to continue this application until August 2. Mr. Lee seconded. Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Approved: Application for Common Victuallers License. Applicant: 3 Potato 4. Present: Gwen, owner. Gwen said she is requesting 6 stools for her new establishment inside the East India Mall. Mr. Casey said it appears as though all the paperwork is in order and asked what her menu is. Gwen said that it is baked organic fries done in a special oven with several sauces to choose from. Mr. Casey asked about the hours. Gwen said that she will be open 12noon until 7pm 7 days a week. Mr. Casey motioned to approve. Mr. Lee seconded. Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Approved: Application for a Common Victuallers License. Applicant: Mei Lee Express. Present: Andrea, paralegal for Attorney Chris Coleman and Lai C. Lei, owner. Mr. Casey asked if this is the location where Happy House was. Andrea said it was and that the only thing they are waiting on is the Fire Inspection. Mr. Casey asked when they would be opening or taking over. Ms. Lei said they are there now. Andrea said they would like to have the hours from 11am-11pm 7 days a week. Mr. Casey asked about the seating. Andrea said there would be the same 24 seats. Mr. Casey motioned to continue this application until August 2. Mr. Lee seconded. Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Approved: Application for Transfer of an Annual Beer & Wine License and Pledge of License. Applicant: MMJ, LLC currently Seaport Cafe, 215 Derby Street. Present: John Keilty, attorney, Matt, Michael and Joe Votto, applicants and owners. Attorney Bill Quinn is representing Cynthia Shea of the Seaport. Mr. Keilty said that the owners formed the LLS in April and has filed the application for the Transfer with the Board and that all of the paperwork is in order. He said they plan on changing the name to Brody’s. He said that all three of the men have interest in the license and that there will be a pledge of the license to the landlords. He said that his clients would also like to re open the ice cream window that Seaport once used. Mr. Casey asked about the hours. Mr. Kielty said they would stay the same. Mr. Casey said he did not see an application with the paperwork for entertainment. Mr. Keilty said he would like it to stay the same. Mr. Casey said it has to be put on the agenda so to come back for that application at the August 2 meeting. He said that there have been some recent complaints from neighbors about the doors being left open while the music is playing and that it is very loud. He said it was a condition that was placed on the license that the doors must remain closed at all times. Mr. Casey motioned to approve the transfer of the license and the pledge of the license to Mr. Lee seconded. Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Approved: Application for Transfer of Liqour License and Change of Location. Applicant: Patel. Present: Patel accounting and administrative side, Patel proposed Manager, seller Rahul Bilodaryia and Attorney Joe Devlin from Lynn, Ma. Mr. Devlin said that his clients have owned Nicole’s Mini Mart for 13 years and have owned the property for the last 6 months and that they are very vested. He said the property is very well lit and clean. He said the business has many repeat customers and that they have inquired about the applicants selling beer & wine. He said that they would like to present to the Board a signed sheet of those in favor. He said that the proposed manager is very experienced with sales and serving and that he is TIPS certified. He said that every employee will become TIPS certified as well Mr. Casey said we will need proof of certification for the file. Mr. Casey said he noticed the store hours are 6am-10 pm and reminded them that there is no consumption on the premise and that they cannot sell any alcohol until 8am and noon on Sundays. Mr. Gary Nadeau said he sold them the property and that they are very good business people. Mr. Bao said he is an abutter and does not have a problem with this but are just concerned that they will be selling alcohol at 6am. Mr. Casey went over the hours and said that would not be the case. Mr. Casey motioned to approve the transfer of the license and the change of location. Mr. Lee seconded. Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Approved: Change of Manager to previous approved Liquor License Transfer sent to the ABCC. Applicant:, 75 Congress Street . Present: Arthur Berardino, applicant and building owner and Attorney Troy. Mr. Berardino said that at the time of the original application he listed Mr. Costanzo as the manager and now he would like to change the proposed manager to himself. He said he is before the Board so they can vote on that change and send it to the ABCC for approval. \ Mr. Troy said that his client would wait until the application is completely approved before re opening. Mr. Casey motioned to approve the change of manager on the application. Mr. Lee seconded. Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Approved: Application for Seasonal Wine & Malt License. Applicant: Mattera Mr. St. Pierre said that this application had been continued from the June 11, 2012 meeting. Mr. Mattera said that he put some of the issues together from last meeting in a binder for review. He said that a fire hood is not required per the fire department; there is something in there regarding vendor deliveries which will stay about the same and trash. Mr. Casey asked if the trash area is covered. Mr. Mattera said that it is in a locked dumpster area across the street. Mr. Casey asked who was responsible for the trash. Mr. Mattera said that the landlord was. Mr. Casey asked if they had a chance to deal with soundproofing issues. Mr. St. Pierre asked what they planned on doing about the soundproofing. Justin Mattera explained his meeting with a contractor and said it is going to be expensive but they will do it. Mr. Casey said that the Board needs architectural stamped plans. Justin Mattera said that if the application is approved they will get them. Mr. St. Pierre said they will have to or else they will not be able to get a certificate of occupancy if they do not comply with everything they are supposed to. He said even if the Board and the ABCC approves the license they cannot open until they are in compliance with all departments. Mr. Casey said he would be in favor of them staying open only until 11pm. Mr. Mattera said he did not know the Board would do that. Mr. Casey said it was right in the Criteria to apply for a Seasonal License. Ms. Rennard said that the Board adopted criteria and it is written in there. She said one of the criteria is closing time. Mr. St. Pierre said that he is comfortable staring with and 11pm closing time and seeing how it goes from there. Mr. Gonzalez who is a direct abutter at 74A Wharf Street said he has been at all meetings regarding this application. He said he has voiced his opposition as this establishment is directly below his home. He said this matter was continued and he realizes that the Mattera’s have taken steps to correct some of the issues. He said that Mr. Mattera met with him on installation that the Mattera’s plan to install themselves. He said that the LB had concerns about the soundproofing as well. He said that in the letter issued by the Building Commissioner, mr. St. Pierre stays neutral. He said he does lay out required architectural plans and soundproofing. He said he is not satisfied that the Mattera’s have met the requirements of this Board or the Building Commissioner. He said again that they are putting the cart before the horse. He said their business is great the way it is now but what they are asking for is much, much more. He said that before the Board approves the application he is asking the Board to deny the application and come back to the Board with more information and again noted that his living area is directly above the bar area. Mr. St. Pierre asked about trash. Mr. Mattera said the trash is in the same place as all the other unit owners. Mr. St. Pierre said that he understands that both parties have a financial interest. Mr. Gonzalez said he does not feel like the Board should only look at financial interest. Mr. St. Pierre said he feels the Board is inclined to issue the license and then satisfy all of the Building Commissioners issues because they cannot have a license issued to them until they are settled. If they don’t meet the requirement s then they won’t open. Mr. Casey said that he agrees with Mr. St. Pierre provided that the Mattera’s fulfill every requirement by every department. He also said that this Board may never grant hours beyond 11pm. Mr. Lee said that as long as requirements are met this Board can grant the license and if they are not met a license will not be issued allowing them to open. Mr. Casey motioned to approved conditioned upon all of the requirements from the Board of Health, Fire and Building Department are met and that architectural plans are given to the office and the Health Dept. notification and routing slips are completed with an 11pm closing hr. Mr. Lee seconded. Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries Commun- ications: *Letter from the Building Commissioner regarding Salter Motor Sports, Class II License at 7 Florence Street. The letter will be placed in the file. Mr. St. Pierre said the letter will be filed and asked Ms. Pagliaro to issue the license. He said it will be up to ZBA to determine different. OLD/NEW Business:** NEW: License given to the Boys and Girls Club for the garage Rooftop event that will be held at Old Town Hall in case of rain. The license will expire at 11:30 pm and is for Wine & Malt only. Approval:* Minutes from the June 11, 2012 meeting. Mr. Casey motioned to approve the change of manager on the application. Mr. Lee seconded. Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Adjourn- ment: Mr. Lee seconded. Mr. St. Pierre said all are in favor. Motion carries. Respectfully submitted, Melissa Pagliaro Clerk of the Board Submitted: August 9, 2012 Approved: