WESTFIELD – The Planning Board will conduct a public hearing tonight on a proposed zoning change sponsored by Ward 2 City Councilor Ralph Figy, to strip the board of the ability to review applications for liquor licenses.
The city’s current zoning ordinances allow the Planning Board to review liquor license special permit applications for location that are within 500 feet of a church or school.
The board has voted to deny special permits for two convenience stores, one of Pleasant Street within 500 feet of the Abner Gibbs Elementary School and one on Montgomery Street near a storefront church. The owner of both stores is currently suing the city.
Figy made the motion after the Law Department rendered opinion that state law gives exclusive authority to the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission and local License Commissions which act as the ABCC local agents.
Figy’s made the motion to delete that ordinance language because it gives the Planning Board authority which is “redundant to the License Commission’s jurisdiction.”
“Basically, we should not have two city agencies dealing with these issues, especially since the state ABCC (Alcohol Beverage Control Commission) delegates its authority to the License Commission,” Figy said in October.
Laura L. Parker of Southwick, the owner of the New Corner Variety Store on Prospect Hill and of the Pleasant Street Market at the intersection of Pleasant and West Silver Streets, applied for a malt and wine license for both stores in July.
Parker was required to apply to the Planning Board for a special permit because the Pleasant Street Market is located near Abner Gibbs Elementary School and the South Middle School, while there is a store-front church across Montgomery Street from the New Corner Variety.
The Planning Board, by a vote of 3-3, denied both special permits. Parker’s attorney, Bradford B. Moir, initiated litigation with the Land Court Division on Sept. 14 to vacate the Planning Board’s decision denying Parker the licenses needed to sell beer and wine.
Moir’s argument is that the state, through legislation and the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission (ABCC) regulations, is so comprehensive that the local community, through a home rule action, does not have authority to regulate alcohol licensing and sales.
