BERLIN — A legislative act in Annapolis this year has opened up the town of Berlin to the private off-sale of liquor.
Two stores were quick to put their foot in the door at this week’s Board of License Commissioners (BLC) meeting with both securing permission for the newly available Class D license in Berlin and the privilege of selling liquor to go.
Both Cheers!, located on Old Ocean City Boulevard, and Pit Stop Beer, Wine and Liquor, located off Route 112, were easily able to upgrade their existing beverage licenses to new Class D licenses at Wednesday’s BLC meeting.
Cheers! was the first to approach the board and attorney Joe Moore argued that since the county liquor retail store left the town limits earlier this year a need has cropped up.
There is a large county retail store, called Shore Spirits, near Berlin but out on Route 50, which Moore said was inconvenient to get to for town residents while Cheers! is in perfect proximity.
“So, if someone is going to buy a bottle of liquor from Berlin, they have 2.1-miles from Cheers! out to the county liquor store,” he said, adding that it would be easy to walk, bike or drive to Cheers! from anywhere in town.
Shore Spirits on the other hand, continued Moore, can be up to a five-mile round trip for residents depending on whether traffic forces them to make a U-turn at the nearest stop light past the store on Route 50. In the summer when traffic heading into Ocean City increases, that five-mile trip will be the rule, not the exception, Moore finished.
Cheers! owner Chris Denny was granted approval for the upgrade to a Class D license. The change to Berlin’s license laws allowing the upgrade will come into effect July 1. Denny will be required to build and maintain a 25-seat bar on-site to qualify for off-sale liquor privileges. He also informed the board that he is considering adding food service and a deli but that won’t be something he looks to do until next winter and was not seeking board approval at Wednesday’s meeting.
Coincidently, Moore also represented Pitt Stop owner John Derrickson in his bid for a license upgrade. While Pitt Stop is only 1.6 miles from the newly upgraded Cheers!, Moore argued that Berlin’s need for off-sale liquor had still not been satisfied as the two stores are on opposite ends of the town.
“If I had invented these locations, I couldn’t have done any better because Cheers! is at the immediate north end of the town. If I walk off the back property line of Cheers!, I’m out of the town of Berlin,” said Moore. “Likewise, the Pitt Stop, because I got Mr. Derrickson an annexation, he is the very southernmost boundary of Berlin and likewise, next to your property, you’re outside the city limits on that side.”
Also worth noting, said Moore, is that Pitt Stop serves commuters on the busy Route 113 corridor while Cheers! tends to attract mostly town residents. With the county liquor retail in Snow Hill rumored to be closing with no intention of being replaced, Moore continued, then Pitt Stop could be the only location for liquor off-sale on Route 113 between Pocomoke and the Delaware line.
However, Bobby Cowger, director of the Department of Liquor Control (DLC), said Thursday that no decision has been made on the Snow Hill location as of this week and that it is still included in his budget for next year. Still, Moore pointed out that the county outlet isn’t technically off Route 113, but Market Street extended in Snow Hill and wasn’t as visible to highway users as Pitt Stop.
The BLC agreed that both stores having off-sale liquor would serve Berlin and granted Derrickson an upgrade to a Class D license. He will also be required to build a 25-seat bar on-site and his upgrade will take effect with the law change on July 1.