UGG UGG - The Commons

A4 neWs The Commons • Wednesday, October 19, 2011
n Liquor FRom seCTIon FRonT
requiring training manuals from
business owners.
selectboard member Ken
schneck raised the question of
“what criteria” that led to the
board, in its capacity of the local
liquor commission, calling a
special meeting oct. 3.
According to Town Attorney
Robert Fisher, business owners
must receive approval at the
municipal and state levels to obtain
a liquor license in Vermont.
Applications go first to Town
Clerk Annette Cappy, who notifies
the board, and the police
and Fire departments.
police Chief eugene Wrinn
said his department checks the
potential license holder for local
or state violations and compiles
reports for the selectboard.
however, if the potential proprietor
has had issues with a
business or liquor license or was
involved in criminal activity outside
Vermont, Wrinn said, that
history wouldn’t show up during
the town’s or state’s checks.
Town manager Barbara
sondag said the town notifies
the fire department in case it
needs to conduct any health or
safety checks.
If approved by the town, the
application or renewal moves
up the ladder to the state
department of liquor Control.
The state also vets the proprietor
for infractions committed within
the state.
Fisher told the board that the
granting of a liquor license “is a
privilege and it can be done with
conditions.”
Also, he said, the board can
revoke or suspend a license it
previously approved “for good
reason” that the board can justify
— even when a proprietor
has met all requirements.
Robin Rieske, a regional
prevention consultant for the
Vermont department of health,
stressed that the push to establish
criteria for the selectboard
when considering liquor licenses
did not represent an attempt to
limit business in town or an antialcohol
campaign.
Instead, she said, the move
would help provide support and
accountability. For responsible
business owners, the criteria
should prove easy to meet, she
added.
Issues?
selectboard members and the
public had raised concerns about
the number of liquor outlets in
town at previous board meetings.
According information from
the Brattleboro Area prevention
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Coalition (BApC), which promotes
drug and alcohol prevention
through education, policy
changes, media campaigns, advocacy,
increased law enforcement,
and training, the town had
31 retail establishments with licenses
to sell alcohol and 50 bars
or restaurants with licenses to
serve as of January 2011.
The BApC estimated that
those establishments provide
one alcohol outlet for every 172
residents.
since January, however, the
town has lost several restaurants
that had served alcohol,
including Alici’s Bistro, Adagio
Trattoria, the Riverview Cafe,
and The mole’s eye.
In response to issues such as
fights in front of some downtown
bars, or police stopping drivers
for driving under the influence,
sondag said, the board instigated
quarterly bar-owner meetings.
new liquor license holders
must attend these meetings,
as well as established licensees
flagged with multiple violations,
said Wrinn.
These meetings, however, fall
into the category of policy, rather
than under a town ordinance,
said Wrinn.
The police department also
sends alcohol violation notices to
establishments involved in a police
call. Wrinn said the goal with
the notices is to build partnerships
with businesses in dealing
with the unhealthy manifestations
of the overuse of alcohol.
For example, said Wrinn, if a
driver is stopped for a duI, police
ask “where did you have your
last drink?”
If the person pinpoints one
bar, the Bpd sends a notice
and asks for response from the
owner, Wrinn said.
some bars respond and some
don’t, he said.
Responding to the notices has
been voluntary, but the town will
soon require owners to respond
to the alcohol violation notices.
What the Bpd and board look
for in the responses to the notices
is how the bar remedies a
situation, like over-serving, that
may have led to a person driving
drunk, said Wrinn.
Wrinn added that some patrons
will point fingers at bars
that did nothing wrong, in which
case the notices give the bars a
chance to clear themselves.
ultimately, the selectboard,
acting as the local liquor commissioners,
has the authority to
issue sanctions and place conditions
on the liquor licenses, said
Beth shrader, ad-hoc committee
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Alyssa Blittersdorf, co-owner of Metropolis on Elliot Street in Brattleboro.
member and BApC director.
In conjunction with the state,
BApC increased the number of
trainings for managers and employees
of businesses selling alcohol
to look for problems like
over-serving or failing to check
patrons’ identification.
Rieske said the data she has
seen points more toward issues
with management and over-serving
and less toward issues like
serving underage drinkers.
most underage drinkers obtain
their alcohol from someone
over 21, said Rieske.
According to data released
by the BApC in January, of the
Windham southeast area students
in grades 8-12 who drank
alcohol in the previous 30 days,
43 percent were given the alcohol,
31 percent gave someone
money to purchase alcohol for
them, and 11 percent got it, or
stole it, from home.
“I think the selectboard is
going in the right direction with
what they’re doing,” said Bill
manch, state liquor control officer
for Windham County.
manch said the state gives
selectboards the authority to
place a lot of conditions on liquor
licenses “within reason.”
The state tends to weigh its
approval of liquor licenses toward
the towns’ decisions, said
manch.
In the state’s view, towns deal
with alcohol-related issues or
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arrests, so they should have the
first-line authority, he said.
The the state is reluctant to
approve a license for an establishment
the town voted down,
manch added.
manch conducts more than
20 quarterly inspections of businesses
with liquor licenses in
town.
manch said, the common issues
he encounters while inspecting
bars were staff over-serving
patrons and disorderly conduct.
In retail outlets, he identifies people
buying alcohol on behalf of
a minor as the largest problem.
Brattleboro sees a lot of action
because of its status as a hub
town, said manch. still, manch
felt the town’s alcohol-related incidents
per capita “were not different
than the rest of the state.”
In manch’s experience, “a
good 90 percent” of crimes involve
alcohol “in some shape
or form, because alcohol alters
people’s way of thinking.”
But drinking also involves behavior
— a hard thing to influence,
he said. What towns can
regulate, or educate, are business
owners and staff.
A challenging
reputation
Alyssa Blittersdorf and Alan
Blackwell knew all about the
metropolis Wine Bar & Cocktail
lounge’s “sullied” reputation as
a drug hangout and unsafe environment
when they bought the
elliot street wine bar.
Blackwell, who worked at
metropolis during its better
days in 2006, said when he and
Blittersdorf decided to purchase
metropolis, they wanted to keep
the name and continue serving
wine and cocktails.
so, he said, the couple took
changing the bar’s reputation
“as a challenge.”
The first-time business owners
went before the selectboard
in its role as local liquor commissioners
on April 17. not knowing
what to expect, said Blackwell,
the couple attended their hearing
“over-prepared” with their business
plan and financials.
“Alyssa is a huge optimist, and
I’m a huge realist,” Blackwell
said.
The board approved
the license application, and
metropolis re-opened in July.
“We wanted to create a comfortable
and safe place,” said
Blackwell.
Blackwell said he and
Blittersdorf, both in their late
20s, completed most of the
renovations themselves. They
changed the lighting, redesigned
the interior, beautified the storefront’s
façade with paint and
hanging flower pots, and installed
a downstairs lounge. he
said the positive feedback from
customers has “been amazing.”
The new owners also added a
security camera to the downstairs
lounge. The downstairs could
prove “too much of a temptation
for some people” without
one, said Blackwell.
music at metropolis stays at a
conversation-friendly level that,
according to Blackwell, won’t
hide a drunken conversation.
Through the six days a week
that the metropolis is open, the
couple is on the premises because
they want to see firsthand
what is happening in their bar,
said Blackwell.
Also, the couple is on a firstname
basis with most town police
officers and won’t hesitate
to call if there is a problem on
the premises.
According to Blackwell, the
“personality” the couple have
given the wine bar has helped
erase the assumption that
metropolis would have a permissive
atmosphere under the
new management.
“We’re excited for people to
judge [metropolis] for themselves.
This is our baby right
now,” said Blackwell.
But Blackwell gives his customers
much of the credit for
protecting the wine bar’s new
and improved reputation.
“people love what this place is
becoming,” he said.
“We wanted to create an environment
different than others in
town,” Blackwell said, adding he
loves the idea of people spending
an evening strolling the downtown
from the establishment to
dinner, to the movies, to meeting
with friends.
metropolis specializes in custom-infused
alcohol that the
owners blend themselves. The
couple displays the infusions-inprogress
behind the bar in large
class containers. The containers
elicit curiosity from customers
who check in to see when new
flavors are ready, said Blackwell.
Customers’ curiosity helps
build an environment of trying
new flavors and enjoying
time with friends, he said, adding
few customers ask to slam
back shots.
The infusions represent “playtime”
for Blackwell, but adds
that they also represent a “huge
trial and error” process that
sometimes “fails miserably.”
Right now, the couple are experimenting
with a pumpkin pie
infusion of vanilla, pumpkin,
spices, and raw sugar.
Blackwell thinks this unique
aspect of their business not only
helps build a regular clientele
but also engages customers with
the bar. he feels this engagement
helps support the lounge’s
growing reputation as a safe but
fun place.
Blackwell counts a book group
and a mothers’ group as regular
customers who use the downstairs
lounge.
however, Blackwell said,
“there are always special days”
in dealing with customers for
any business that serves alcohol.
But with the environment fostered
by the owners and the participation
of regular customers,
Blackwell has not seen people
walking through the door with
the sole desire to “get drunk.”
“If you want to go out and get
wasted, there are cheaper options
[than metropolis],” Blackwell
adds, referring to the lounge’s
cocktails that cost around $9.
Blackwell and Blittersdorf met
while working in the restaurant
business, and although they enjoyed
the work, they imagined
that owning their own business
would be more satisfying.
The business has proved financially
successful in its first
three months, said Blackwell.
Blackwell said that the couple
has a plan for metropolis’ future
but are more involved with the
RAndolph T. holhuT/The Commons
new business’s present.
“We love each other and we
love this business,” Blackwell
said. “We’re so grateful for it.”
Community
impact
In a separate interview,
schneck said his ideal outcome
for the ad hoc committee’s process
is developing a set of criteria
the board can use to evaluate liquor
license applications.
The board has no framework
at present, schneck said.
By comparison, the Town
Arts Committee has more than
20 criteria it uses to evaluate potential
pieces of public art, said
schneck, noting that establishing
criteria for the board does
not involve restricting or taking
away licenses.
schneck said he wants to “do
due diligence. Right now, I feel
like a rubber stamp [regarding]
community impact.”
The board should look at
community impact when considering
liquor licenses, schneck
said.
“I like the direction this is going,”
he said.
schneck said his concerns
around the lack of criteria
came about as he watched the
selectboard renew and approve
new liquor licenses back in April,
when all licenses come up for
renewal.
he feels that part of the
selectboard’s role of looking
at the big community picture is
determining the impact of alcohol
establishments on the town
as a whole.
no specific alcohol-related issues
in town especially concern
schneck. But, he said, conversations
during the community forum
on crime the town hosted in
August noted a “clear connection
between alcohol and drugs,
and crime.”
some of schneck’s interest in
establishing criteria for the board
comes from his experience as an
alcohol and drugs educator and
his position as dean of students
at marlboro College.
“When it comes to unhealthy
relationships with alcohol,
there’s no such thing as the
‘one and only Brattleboro’,”
said schneck, referring to the
town’s marketing slogan.
In general, schneck would like
to see a more options for people
to socialize in town, sans alcohol.
schneck said he understands
that fostering a social scene in
Brattleboro drives the number of
bars in downtown. But, he adds,
alcohol-serving establishments
leave out the portion of the community
in recovery.
If a recovering alcoholic’s only
social option is a bar, the choice
becomes his or her health, or being
a social being, said schneck.
There’s not a dean of students
in the country who would not
say “yes” if asked if alcohol and
drugs pose problems on college
campuses, said schneck.
But, unlike other communities,
he said that Brattleboro is
“willing to step up” and look at
the issues.
schneck expects that formal
invitations to the committee’s
meetings will be sent to
proprietors, who he described
as “an invaluable voice in this
conversation.”
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