SNOW HILL – Officials delayed their decision on a liquor license request from a Pocomoke business owner in order to review information submitted by a merchant opposed to the request.
The three members of the Worcester County Board of License Commissioners (BLC) agreed to delay their decision on the beer, wine and liquor license request submitted by the owner of Shore Spirits in Pocomoke. The delay will give them time to review the transcript of a 2014 BLC hearing submitted by the attorney representing Newtown Market, a Pocomoke business opposed to Shore Spirits’ request.
In what would be a lengthy hearing Wednesday, attorney Mark Cropper, representing the owner of Shore Spirits, said his client had operated a liquor store in Millsboro for several years and this spring purchased Shore Spirits and its inventory from Worcester County.
Kelly Shanahan, the county’s assistant chief administrative officer, told the board that the county opened the store in 2007 and had operated it profitably for many years. He said that while there were now a handful of stores licensed to sell alcohol in the area, Shore Spirits had been established the longest.
Shanahan said Cropper’s client purchased the store this spring after the county issued a request for proposals. The county has been working to cease all of its liquor operations for some time.
Cropper said his client simply wanted to continue what had been the county’s operation in Pocomoke and to add beer to the store’s existing liquor and wine inventory. He said the neighborhood around the shop was highly commercial and that Shore Spirits fit right in.
“It’s kind of a one-stop-shop area,” he said.
Following Cropper’s presentation, attorney Hugh Cropper told the board he represented Newtown Market, a beer and wine store in the same shopping center as Shore Spirits, and that its connections were opposed to the Shore Spirits license request. He introduced a number of individuals who said they were also opposed to the Shore Spirits request. One of those was Pocomoke Mayor Bruce Morrison. He said the town had a population of 4,300 and residents could already purchase liquor at Don’s Seafood. He said the town wouldn’t be able to support two such similar stores in the same shopping center.
“You’re going to run one out of business,” he said. “I don’t see it working.”
William Esham, chairman of the BLC, asked whether Morrison had opposed Shore Spirits when the county had operated it. Morrison replied that he had not but added that originally it had only sold liquor, not beer or wine.
Hugh Cropper told the board that his client purchased Newtown Market in 2015 and had always intended to seek a liquor license for the store, which historically sold beer and wine. Existing state legislation, however, won’t enable the store to file an application to sell liquor until July.
Mark Cropper pointed out that members of the family behind Newtown Market had, like his own client, submitted a bid to purchase Shore Spirits. Their bid, however, was less than his own client’s and was not selected.
“Isn’t that really the reason you’re here today?” he said.
He added that the Newtown store was purchased in 2015 when Shore Spirits was open to customers.
“You accepted those circumstances when you bought Newtown Market,” he said.
Hugh Cropper said that if the Patel family’s bid had been selected for Shore Spirits they would have consolidated it with Newtown Market. He said that his client had even worked with Morrison to advocate for legislation that would enable the business to seek a liquor license.
Thomas Coates, the BLC’s attorney, asked why Morrison had testified that there was no need for additional licenses if he’d worked with Newtown Market in an effort to get legislation passed that would allow the store to seek such a license.
“When we found out the county was going out of the liquor business, we immediately lobbied to have private licenses in that area,” Hugh Cropper replied.
Coates asked why that was necessary, if, as Cropper’s witnesses testified, the liquor license at Don’s Seafood was enough for the area.
“We’re not here to try to prove whether we get a liquor license today, although we would like to,” Cropper replied. “We believe Don’s is sufficient. Because there is a beer and wine store that we have, we’re going to come back and try for a liquor license. We’ve always wanted liquor at his location. If we’re going to be there and make a living as a private person liquor helps.”
Mark Cropper asked why Don’s wasn’t sufficient for the community’s beer and wine needs if it was sufficient for the area’s liquor needs.
“More people drink beer and wine than drink liquor,” Hugh Cropper said.
Mark Cropper argued that if Newtown Market was going to seek a liquor license in July, its connections did believe there was a need for a license in Pocomoke in addition to Don’s Seafood.
“You’re not against the board issuing another Class A beer wine and liquor license in Pocomoke, you’re against the board issuing it to anybody other than you,” Cropper said.
Hugh Cropper stressed that Newtown Market would suffer economically if Shore Spirits was able to sell beer. He introduced several witnesses who testified to that effect. Jeremy Mason, whose father built the shopping center that houses Shore Spirits and Newtown Market, said he was involved in managing the property. He said his father still had mortgages on all of the units except Shore Spirits.
Mason said he thought granting the Shore Spirits request would be hurtful to the building. He pointed out that the application stated that the store would be open as late as 11 p.m., when everything else in the area was closed. He also said that if Shore Spirits started selling beer Newtown Market would suffer economically.
Mark Cropper asked whether Mason had ever voiced concerns about Shore Spirits prior to the hearing. Mason said he had not. Cropper pointed out that the county-owned store had existed eight years before the Patel family purchased Newtown Market.
“At no time before or after have you complained to anybody that the existence of the county store negatively impacted your ownership and management of that center,” Cropper said.
Mason said that was correct.
“I’m simply trying to defend a good business in good standing,” he said.
The owner of the shopping center’s Domino’s franchise also testified against the Shore Spirits request.
“I see a conflict of interest,” he said. “I see it hurting both businesses.”
Pocomoke Realtor Charles Hall also spoke in opposition to the Shore Spirits request even though his was one of the signatures collected by the applicant during the application process.
“I did not realize the application was for beer,” Hall said.
In outlining his opposition to the Shore Spirits application, Hugh Cropper asked the board to accept a transcript of a June 2014 case. He’d represented William Brittingham in his effort to seek a liquor license for his Berlin shopping center after the county closed its store there, which had provided area customers with liquor for nearly 30 years. The BLC at that time denied the request, citing the fact that there were other stores in the area that sold liquor.
The board agreed to delay a decision on the Shore Spirits license until they’d had time to review the transcript.
