SNOW HILL — Continuing a trend of private businesses seeking off-sale liquor privileges in Worcester County, three separate entities attempted to upgrade their licenses this month, but only one was approved.
Town Market Basket in Snow Hill was successful with both Raceway Citgo in Berlin and OC Dollar Store in Ocean City being denied upgrades by the Board of License Commissioners (BLC).
This was Town Market Basket’s second attempt to upgrade their Class A beer and wine license to a Class D beer, wine and liquor. The board denied the request during the previous hearing due to concerns from residents and a belief that the county dispensary meets the carry-out liquor needs in town.
During this second hearing, Town Market Basket, located at 308 East Market Street in Snow Hill, came loaded for bear and attorney Hugh Cropper presented the BLC with a packed room of supporters and a parade of proponents.
“There’s definitely a public need and a desire because people are looking for options for food and for beverages,” said resident Ann Coates, one of Cropper’s witnesses who argued that granting the Class D license would be a boon for Snow Hill.
Currently, the only off-sale liquor option available in town is from the county dispensary on Main Street. That store will eventually re-locate to another part of town, however, and the Town Market Basket had a long line of supporters who want to see the market step up to fill any kind of gap that might be left. More than a dozen people signaled their backing and about half of that number spoke directly to the board, including former Snow Hill Mayor Steve Mathews.
“I’m definitely for this. I definitely think there is a community need,” Mathews told the BLC. “I don’t have much to add except that it’s a shame we didn’t come in on time to see the 15 or 20 more people who are in support of this but had to leave.”
There was some opposition to the application, however, even if it was dwarfed by the amount of support. Most of those against the proposed license upgrade lived directly across the street from Town Market Basket.
“It is not the appropriate place in Snow Hill for an on-sale consumption of alcohol,” said resident Jean Townsend.
Her neighbor, Mary Nichols, was just as opposed if a bit more dramatic, questioning whether so many of the supporters would feel the same way if they lived across the street. Liquor causes issues, she continued, and was not right for the neighborhood.
A few other neighbors also voiced opposition, though the group was mollified somewhat by the conditions that Town Market Basket owner TJ Patel was willing to self-impose. To receive a Class D license with off-sale liquor privileges, Patel will also need to host a 25-seat bar within his facility and have an on-site alcoholic beverage service.
Patel would limit the hours of operation for that bar to Friday from noon to 9 p.m. His deli would remain open at all times during the service of alcoholic beverages. At the request of the board, Patel also agreed that his off-sale of beer, wine and liquor would close at 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 9 p.m. on Sunday.
The board voted unanimously to approve the application.
Unlike Town Market Basket, Raceway Citgo, located near the intersection of Routes 50 and 589, and OC Dollar Store, 203 N. Philadelphia Ave. in Ocean City, were both on their first tries to upgrade their licenses.
Raceway already has a Class D license but without liquor privileges and OC Dollar has a Class A. Both were denied due mainly to the BLC determining that public need was already met in their location along with a few other negatives.
For Raceway, attorney Mark Cropper argued to the board that while there are a number of off-sale liquor providers nearby, including a county store 1.1 miles away, that the West Ocean City and Ocean Pines area are developing quickly and need more service.
“We’ve been at this location for 25 years. The area has changed a lot,” agreed Raceway co-owner John Wittmyer. “We’re in the position now where we’re planning for the next 25 years on that corner.”
If the county was afraid of the competition, it shouldn’t be in the industry, added Mark Cropper.
“In my humble opinion, if the county wants to be in the business of selling liquor, they can compete with everybody else,” he said.
But it wasn’t just the county that Raceway would be competing with. Rita O’Neil, owner of Rita’s World of Wine in Ocean Pines, is located only a few miles from Raceway and already sells off-sale liquor. There are a few other locations in both Berlin and West Ocean City in the same situation. Pete Cosby, acting as attorney for O’Neil, noted that Raceway is a non-conforming use that is much closer to Route 50 than buildings are allowed to be if built now.
It’s dangerous to upgrade the license there, Cosby continued, since an on-site 25-seat bar would need to be added and the intersection is dangerous enough without tossing alcohol into the mix.
“This is a very much non-conforming use of land as it exists. It is already problematic as it exists,” he said.
The board agreed that the location is too tight at the moment and that the public need is met.
Likewise, OC Dollar received some pushback with their application. Mark Cropper, again acting as attorney for the applicant, tried to make the case that while downtown Ocean City has more than its fair share of bars and liquor locations, many close during the winter and OC Dollar could potentially be the only location between the Inlet and 8th Street to have off-sale during certain times.
“Most people don’t want to walk 17 blocks in the winter time to buy a bottle of liquor,” he told the board.
William Gibbs, a neighbor of the dollar store, protested the application and questioned whether the property would make sense as liquor off-sale with a small on-sale bar.
“There have been a lot of issues with public drinking between the buildings. The police recommended that we put some signs up. I’ve had problems with people urinating on my building, especially at night,” said Gibbs.
Just having beer and wine at the location has already been a nuisance, Gibbs claimed.
“It’s been a hardship and a major one. There has been a lot of hanging out there and I guess when you sell alcohol at this price it’s going to draw an element in and the element has not been a good one,” he said.
The BLC voted to deny the application, citing the concerns of the neighborhood along with a belief that the public need for liquor was well met in downtown Ocean City.