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 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Jan 16, 2008 10:59 PM Subject: [AIA Members] Special General Membership Meeting announcement--Meeting Jan 23 7:00pm To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: "Clarke, Mary Pat" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Michelle W. Pierce" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 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 _______________________________________________ Members mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://abellimprovement.org/mailman/listinfo/members_abellimprovement.org _______________________________________________ Chat mailing list Chat@charlesvillage.info http://charlesvillage.info/mailman/listinfo/chat_charlesvillage.info archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/chat@charlesvillage.info/