Beer Works and... Who speaks for the community?

[keithn.livejournal.com]

A small but vocal group of about 50 mostly older residents has declared themselves the voice of the community and is on the verge of killing the Davis Square Beer Works proposal. Right now, the licensing hearing for Beer Works has been pushed back to November 18 (Beer Works was granted a "continuance" at October 21's licensing board meeting).

What concerns me much more than the possibility of the Beer Works proposal being denied is the notion that these 50 or so residents have declared themselves the representatives of the community, and they have alderman Rebekah Gewirtz as their champion. Despite the fact that Alderman Gewirtz stated that the majority of e-mails she received were in support of the Beer Works proposal, she has come out as not only against Beer Works but seemingly against any new bars/restaurants in general (see the "Davis Action Group" notes). Based on past comments, it would seem that she is insisting on either retail or some kind of farmer's market for that space.

Who is the voice of the young professionals and students who live in the community? The majority of Davis Square residents are under 35 years old. Most people who I have talked to are in favor of the proposal, and even the ones who aren't fans of Beer Works would never argue that there are too many bars and restaurants in Davis Square like our alderman has argued. Bars and restaurants are why many of us are here. (Yes - I know we're ignored because we aren't noisy and don't vote - which is what I want to change).

If you want your voice heard - whatever your opinion - please e-mail the Somerville Licensing Commission via their administrative assistant Jenneen Pagliaro - jpagliaro@somervillema.gov - as soon as possible. You can also CC/separately e-mail Alderman Gewirtz at rebekah.gewirtz@gmail.com, but she seems to have already made up her mind and since she is running for re-election unopposed there isn't much that can be done to sway her. You should also CC or separately e-mail alderman at large Jack Connolly at aldermanconnolly@gmail.com.

Of course, showing up at the Licensing Commission meeting on November 18 would also be a big help. But if Beer Works is convinced the license won't be approved, they may just withdraw before then, which is why e-mailing now is important.

Comments

[ron_newman]

I attended the second meeting, and thought the opinions expressed there summed up to neutral, not negative.

That said, people under 35 also use grocery stores.

[keithn.livejournal.com]

We do, so thank goodness Shaws is a 10 minute walk away from the proposed Beer Works location... with red line service! In my case, Shaws is actually closer than the Beer Works location.

[ron_newman]

But for plenty of other folks (including me), the proposed Beer Works location is closer than Shaw's. I miss Farmer's Bounty.

Not many Somerville folks would use the Red Line to get from Davis Square to Shaw's; the time it takes to escalate up from the Porter Square platform negates any possible time saved over just walking there.

Re: "Bars and restaurants are why many of us are here" <-- but not the only reason, presumably?

(I'm neutral enough on this subject that I'm not likely to send a strong letter in either direction to the Licensing Commission. Mostly I just want this building no longer to be vacant.)

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

Who is the voice of the young professionals and students who live in the community?

Who votes in City Council elections? Who knocks on doors for City Council elections? Who donates to City Council campaigns? Who shows up at City Council meetings? Who shows up at Licensing Commission meetings?

she is running for re-election unopposed

Who runs for City Council?

[aroraborealis.livejournal.com]

I think your framing here is unnecessarily divisive, and I'm bothered that you focus so much on age as the primary difference between the camps. We are a diverse community in a variety of ways (and pretty undiverse in others). Your concerns that a small group are speaking for the larger without really being representative may be reasonable, but your banging the drum of the "older residents" boogeyman is gross.

[keithn.livejournal.com]

That framing is your perception, and I'm sorry you perceived it that way. My frustration is that a major demographic is being ignored, not that the older residents are speaking out. I don't fault them one bit for organizing and pushing for their viewpoint.

It's frustrating that Gewirtz does not even pretend to acknowledge the views of the people who spoke to her in favor of the proposal. There is no alderman that I'm aware of that supports the proposal. And the reason is obviously for all the reasons achinhibitor implied.

I just want a more representative portion of the community to speak up. That means the old AND the young, the owners AND the renters, the retirees AND the professionals AND the students (and whoever else).

[ifotismeni]

i wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the younger folks, including young professionals who are renting (like i was for a few years), are not speaking up because they are happy to defer to long-term residents on these issues. i lived on chester street for a while but i stayed out of these kinds of discussions because i knew i was only going to be living in the area for a few years.

[ron_newman]

Not that it necessarily matters, but Rebekah Gewirtz is only barely over 35 herself. She may even be the youngest member of the Board of Aldermen.

[cbw062967.livejournal.com]

I think the opponents are more accurately described as people who do not go to Davis Square at night (I know one vocal opponent in his 40s). The last two times my wife and I went to Davis Square for a drink at 9 p.m. on a weeknight, we were turned away at multiple bar/restaurants, so I agree that there clearly is a need notwithstanding Alderman Connolly's claim to the contrary. I think Beerworks is mediocre but predict the 20 somethings would fill it, leaving more space elsewhere.

Also, I am baffled by this "demand" for a grocery store. What if a grocery store does not want to move in (presumably because of the lack of parking)? State action? Force Whole Foods to sign a lease at gunpoint?

[keithn.livejournal.com]

If the community wants another Farmer's Bounty, then so be it. But I'm convinced that the community does not really want a new Farmer's Bounty precisely because the old Farmer's Bounty went out of business. The community already voted with their wallets. I don't see what has changed that would make the concept economically viable today. It's the type of business that people often say they want, that they think looks good in their community, but then they rarely actually use (as a whole) and so it needs a much more densely populated area to survive.

Personally, Trader Joe's would be my #1 choice for that spot, but Trader Joe's said they weren't interested. Trader Joe's is somewhat unique in that they sell specialty food that they produce. A non-specialty store is something I don't think would work. It would either be a general store in a small space, and end up being a clone of Tedeschi or CVS, or it would be a produce store like Farmer's Bounty which has already been shown to fail in the community.

(And the red line for Shaws makes a difference if it is raining/snowing/you have a disability/or you are just feeling lazy.)

[ron_newman]

I pointed Rebekah Gewirtz at this thread. She pointed out to me that the license Beer Works is applying for is city-owned (rather than bought from another licensee), and that these city-owned licenses are supposed to be reserved for areas of economic need. It's hard to argue that Davis Square is such an area, compared to (say) East Somerville or Winter Hill or even Magoun Square.

[francescadavis.livejournal.com]

Having attended the meeting, I can tell you the room was full of people, adults, of all ages. In fact, there was a diverse group of ages and it would be difficult to tell how people felt about Beer Works, because they weren't given the opportunity to speak as Beer Works asked for a continuance at the last minute. So when Chris Iwerks stated that individual residents had made up their mind, he did not infer positive or negative.

There is another nuance that you missed. Rebekah and the OSPCD were against the use of a special (inexpensive) city license by a large, successful, organization like Beer Works specifically in Davis Square. The point here is that those licenses were requested from the state for economic development above the existing cap of liquor licenses. There were only 10 granted and there are only 3 left (may less now after Monday's meeting.) So, to give it to an organization that has the ability to buy a license in a square that already has a significant amount of similar bars and restaurants is not supportive of the goals of those licenses. Those licenses are for economic development and unique uses. Beer Works in Davis Square doesn't really qualify. However, if they wanted to open in another area of the city that could use a flagship bar/restaurant, those licenses should then be considered. In fact, the OSPCD representative welcomed Beer Works anywhere else in the city.

[keithn.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this. Maybe she can register here and answer some more questions?

My first would be, how many city-owned liquor licenses have been granted to Davis Square bars and restaurants in the last 10-15 years? It doesn't seem likely to me that all the bars and restaurants in Davis Square that have opened recently all obtained their liquor licenses from other licensees. And we don't seem to have been an area of "economic need" recently.

It also seems odd to bring up the "supposed to be reserved for areas of economic need" argument this late in the process. Was this reported earlier and I missed it?

[keithn.livejournal.com]

Thank you for clarifying what Chris meant - I misinterpreted what was meant in the Davis Action Group e-mail as "the community already decided" when he actually meant "we've all made up our own minds individually and took the time to show up tonight, so don't make this a waste of our time." I'll edit my original post.

I'm also not ready to buy the special license argument without more information (see my reply to Ron above).

[cbw062967.livejournal.com]

So can someone answer this question: if these special licenses are for areas of economic need, but there is also demand for more liquor licenses in Davis Square, what is the process for demanding that the government (municipal, state) make more available? It seems that this argument that Beerworks does not deserve this kind of license misses the point that Davis Square actually has the demand for a restaurant like this which would spur economic growth and tax revenues and thus be a good thing for the entire city. In other words, this is a procedural argument that avoids the substantive merits (okay, I admit it; I'm a lawyer.)

[ron_newman]

On the Davis Action Group page, the "special licenses" link goes to this Somerville Patch article from last year. Mayor Curtatone asked the state legislature for an unlimited number of liquor licenses; the legislature said "No, but here are 10 new ones for you."

[aroraborealis.livejournal.com]

I don't understand why the age of the commenters is relevant at all. Since you mention it throughout, it is your framing. That's how language works.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Ah, so all this is another victim of stupid state alcohol laws?

[francescadavis.livejournal.com]

In 2011 or 12, the city went to the state asking to remove the cap on liquor licenses in Somerville, to be more similar to say...Cambridge (they have unlimited licenses.) They were denied and given 10 over the cap for use city-wide and 10 specifically for Assembly Square. The alderman defined the use for those 10 city-wide licenses for economic development. The city-wide licenses are an annual fee, not site specific and when a restaurant closes, they go back to the city for redistribution. There are licenses you can buy and own and put wherever you want, but those can cost $100K+ depending on demand.

[ron_newman]

Yes. I see no reason that the state government should have any role whatsoever in alcohol licensing, or that there even needs to be a state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission. These decisions should be totally at the discretion of local governments.

[teko.livejournal.com]

The way this is framed is strange to me, because having been at the meeting, Alderman Gewirtz in no way seemed opposed to the Beer Works proposal. If anything, she specifically praised their architectural plan and said that Beer Works would be a much better option than the alternative proposal of cutting the floorplan up into a Burger King/Subway/Massage Envy.

She brought up the fact that she'd approached a grocery store but that they were concerned about the floorplan and loading issues.

The meeting I attended had a few vocal older residents who nearly all seemed ill-informed, but they weren't the majority.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Why should they be at the discretion of government at all?

[ron_newman]

There's a legitimate interest in making sure that bars don't overserve, don't serve underage* patrons, and don't become buckets of blood. But I trust localities to deal with these issues.

* even if you think the legal age should be lower than 21, as I do, there should still be some minimum age.

[keithn.livejournal.com]

Surely if you showed up to a community meeting for a diverse community and the commenters were mostly men, or were mostly white, or were mostly wealthy, you would feel that the community was not being fully represented by the comments at that meeting. The same goes for the commenters being mostly older. That's how logic works.

[keithn.livejournal.com]

Were you at the licensing meeting earlier this week? Or are you referring to one of the two previous community meetings?

I'm going off what I read about the licensing meeting at http://davisactiongroup.com/?p=192. The way it is written there, she seems solidly against it.