The Select Board approved, in a 3–2 vote, an all-alcohol off-premises license for Richdale Food Store, at 444 Humphrey St.

The board had first heard from Richdale in December, when Attorney Chris Drucas explained that the plan was “put some shelving behind the counter where the cash register is today…to hold pints and half pints with another row of shelving directly in front of where the wine is now, which would hold the other products.” The hearing was postponed to February after letters had not been sent to abutters before the December meeting.

Select Board Chair Katie Phelan read a letter of opposition from abutters George Allen, Sarah Spedden and Gregory Allen.

“While I realize the financial value of an expanded alcohol license and that such licenses generate substantial revenue for a small business, such as this, the existing wine and beer license should be sufficient for this location,” the letter read. “I do not oppose the existing license, but we have a new all-alcohol liquor store down the street at 646 Humphrey, across from Cindy’s Pizza. There is no need for another all-alcohol off-premise license so close in a residential neighborhood. I encourage the Select Board to deny this application for an all-alcohol license.”

Phelan said she had considered the issue carefully after the “robust conversation” during the December meeting.

“I think, for me, I look toward the facts that were available to us based on the case law for reasons in which we could deny the applicant, and I personally don’t feel that any of those reasons exist here,” Phelan said. “I understand that location and proximity to another license, but I feel like we’re three-square-miles. We’re not that big anyways. There’s a great proximity to other licenses as well, and it doesn’t make sense to me to hold a license when we have a business owner who wants to use it.”

After moving to approve the license, Select Board Vice Chair Doug Thompson noted that “good points have been raised” about the license, but “for similar reasons Katie said and more generally because I am very familiar with how the store is operated, I am sure that the owners will take into consideration what this discussion has been about.”

Select Board Members Danielle Leonard and Mary Ellen Fletcher both opposed the vote.

“My ‘no’ is strictly because I feel that it does not benefit the community having another liquor store within a half a mile of each other,” Fletcher said. “It has nothing to do with the people that own the market whatsoever. It’s just that we are a very small community.”

Drucas said the owners of Richdale will “do their best to make you proud.”

What Happened At The December Meeting?

Attorney Chris Drucas said in December that the rear section of the store has cameras that can assist in keeping an eye on the additional alcohol sales.

Several residents and neighbors spoke during the meeting. Many praised Richdale’s reputation, while one abutter raised concerns about noise and litter in the area.

Leonard expressed concerns about underage drinking.

“I feel like underage drinking in our town is a thing,” Leonard said. “It’s a thing maybe we don’t like to talk about a lot, but neighboring towns have had issues. It’s almost an epidemic, I would say, in small towns.”

Leonard added in December that there are “three full-sized liquor stores in a three-square-mile town.”

“I don’t think we’re lacking for places to buy liquor,” Leonard said. “It’s not that I want to cut into anybody’s profit margin, but I think that at some point someone has to start talking about underage drinking in a town of our size.”

Select Board Member Mary Ellen Fletcher agreed in December, stating that she would “not be comfortable with my child going into a convenience store where there is a lot of displays of liquor, wine, beer.”

Select Board Chair Katie Phelan had said in December that she was not sure if the board was able to deny a permit expansion based on individual comfortability levels.

Select Board Vice Chair Doug Thompson said in December that if “a kid is looking to get alcohol, they’re either already going to be able to get it here or somewhere else.”

“This is a well-operated business,” Thompson said. “We’re talking about adding some liquor behind the cash register and at the end of a cooler.”