Elected officials oppose liquor superstore at South Bay; licensing board could decide tomorrow

The Boston Licensing Board could ballot time whether to let Total Wine to unfastened a 23,000-square-foot store successful the South Bay mall, wherever the OfficeMax utilized to be.

Acting Mayor Kim Janey and City Councilors Frank Baker, Michael Flaherty and Annissa Essaibi George each opposed the connection astatine a proceeding today, citing absorption among adjacent residents. City Councilor Julia Mejia had earlier submitted written opposition to the proposal, but did not be the proceeding oregon nonstop a representative.

Also opposing: The Massachusetts Addiction Prevention Alliance, which says a ample liquor store is the implicit incorrect happening to enactment astatine the borderline of Methadone Mile.

Alliance President Heilman said the elephantine store would conscionable beryllium excessively overmuch of a lure for section radical with additions and predicted that 75% of the store's concern would beryllium among radical who would portion 2 handles of hard liquor a time if they could.

Nonsense, Total Wines lawyer Patricia Farnsworth said: The store volition not merchantability either nips oregon 40-oz. malt bottles and each the workers are connected by receptor pieces to rapidly roust immoderate troublemakers - each of whom would person to travel done a azygous entranceway with a video surface close determination showing that they're nether surveillance portion successful the store. Also: Managers would ever beryllium connected the store floor, alert to immoderate imaginable trouble, successful portion due to the fact that they won't person offices.

"It's conscionable scare tactics," she said. "It's unfortunate that the electeds person voiced opposition, but I deliberation they're listening to the incorrect arguments, to beryllium rather honest."

Legally, the committee tin lone see the "public need" for a liquor licence astatine the location, not the imaginable interaction connected existing liquor stores.

Farnsworth and a Total Wines authoritative said portion of the request is that Boston successful wide and Dorchester successful peculiar are growing, arsenic shown by caller Census figures.

Need for a liquor store astatine the circumstantial South Bay location, stocked with hundreds of antithetic types of beers, wines and spirits, is shown by the licence the promenade Stop & Shop utilized to person for a liquor aisle - a licence the supermarket sold to an online transportation service earlier this year.

However, that mightiness person been the incorrect statement to usage for the existent licensing board, 2 of whose members initially voted to assistance Stop & Shop that licence but present regret having done so.

"To beryllium honest, that's 1 of the votes I regret," committee subordinate Keana Saxxon said, adding she was gladsome to spot Stop & Shop merchantability the licence due to the fact that the liquor aisle ne'er seemed to enactment well.

Fellow committee subordinate Liam Curran agreed. "When it came up to region that license, I was blessed to spot that go," helium said.

At a proceeding connected the supermarket's projected sale, an lawyer for the transportation work said the merchantability would really beryllium performing a nationalist work by removing a liquor-license from the South Bay area.

Board Chairwoman Kathleen Joyce was not connected the committee erstwhile it voted to fto Stop & Shop merchantability alcohol.

Other opponents of the projected big-box store, who see a small-business relation acrophobic astir the interaction connected existing adjacent liquor stores successful Dorchester, the South End and South Boston, said the mall's existent proprietor had erstwhile agreed to ne'er let a packie successful the mall.

Farnsworth said that, too, was wrong, that determination is nary specified agreement.

Joe Rull, who worked for the mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services astatine the clip the promenade went successful nether Tom Menino and who present works for a consulting radical representing tiny businesses, said that's lone due to the fact that residents and officials astatine the clip - helium mentioned past Councilors Jimmy Kelley and Maureen Feeney - thought a handshake was bully and truthful ne'er sought to person the statement enactment successful writing.

Rull submitted signatures of immoderate 2,000 adjacent residents opposed to the proposal. In effect to a question from Joyce astir however the signatures were collected, helium said they were mostly from radical going to the polls during the September preliminary elections. He said the radical collected immoderate signatures astatine South Bay itself and mightiness person gotten much there, but information guards spotted them and told them to leave.

Total Wine submitted 300 signatures successful favour of the proposal. Also backing it is the Newmarket Business Association.