Until very recently, the Garden House at Look Park had been advertising on its website a Valentine's Day celebration. The virtual flyer offered, for $9 per person at the door, music by the O-Tones, a "decadent dessert buffet," dancing and a "cash bar."
Problem: Look Park is not licensed to serve alcohol between Jan. 15 and March 31.
The establishment holds a seasonal all-liquor license that prohibits alcohol on the premise during the blackout period.
Last Friday, Feb. 8, after the Advocate made several inquiries to the Northampton License Commission, Northampton Chief of Police Russell Sienkiewicz, Mayor Mary Clare Higgins and the management of the Garden House, the online link to the Valentine's Day party poster was taken down, some time between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. In the Sat., Feb. 9 edition of the Daily Hampshire Gazette, a small notice advertising the dance ran with this disclaimer: "This is a non-alcoholic event; coffee, tea and sodas will be available."
Whether the Garden House had planned to serve alcohol before the Advocate began asking about it or had merely created a virtual flyer that was misleading, it appears that the establishment had already violated the terms of its liquor license on at least two other occasions. While Mayor Higgins, in recent interviews, downplayed the apparent violations as mistakes that came about, in part, as a result of the failure of the state to provide the Garden House with clear guidelines, the violations are somewhat surprising, given the controversy that surrounded the 2002 decision by Look Park's Board of Trustees to serve alcohol on park property, as well as the ongoing effort by the Garden House to secure a year-round liquor license.
While liquor license holders must abide by Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission rules, the city's license commission and police department are the first level of enforcement, charged with making sure license holders comply with the terms of their licenses. (Full disclosure: the author of this report moonlights at a Northampton restaurant/bar.)
On Jan. 15, 2008, the city's license commission sent a letter addressed to all seasonal liquor license holders in Northampton regarding the seasonal license hiatus.
"All alcohol should be put into storage," the letter states. "The A.B.C.C. has confirmed that no alcohol, wine or malt can be on the premise during the hiatus. Because your premise is still a licensed premise from January 16-March 31, BYOB is not allowed."
Early last week, Chief Sienkiewicz told the Advocate, he was alerted to the online advertisement for a cash bar at the upcoming Valentine's Day party at the Garden House. "I received a call from a citizen that had seen the advertisement for the Valentine's Day party," Sienkiewicz said. "I knew the commission was meeting soon so I sent a memo to [Northampton License Commission Chair] Brad Shimel."
That memo read, in part: "It has come to my attention that the Garden House at Look Park is advertising a Valentine's Day event on 14 Feb (see attached) that includes a Cash Bar. It is my understanding they are still a seasonal license (no liquor January through March) while awaiting the legislation converting them to year round. In advance of this department being involved in an enforcement effort, I am notifying the Commission so appropriate preemptive action can be taken."
To date, according to Sienkiewicz, that's as far as the police department has pursued the matter. However, Sienkiewciz notes, as a result of the commission's meeting Feb. 6, a second letter from the commission, dated Feb. 7, was sent via certified mail to Look Park, addressed to Garden House Manager of Record Jillian Larkin, and cc'ed to the Northampton Police Department.
"It has come to the License Commission's attention that the Garden House at Look Park may not be complying with the terms of its seasonal liquor license by still offering a cash bar at events during the dry period of January 16-March 31," reads the Feb. 7 memo. "The Commission was given a copy of an advertisement for an event scheduled for February 14 offering a cash bar. If this event were to take place as advertised it would be a clear violation of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 138… Please be advised that if you are found in violation of your seasonal liquor license you may face license suspension, revocation or modification and severely jeopardize any future opportunity to convert your seasonal liquor license to an annual license."
The same day the letter was sent, according to Lyn Nuttleman Simmons, a clerk to the Northampton License Commission and to the Northampton City Council, a representative from the park asserted that the "cash bar" in the advertisement was not referring to liquor.
"As I was drafting the letter, someone from the park called me," said Simmons told the Advocate. "They told me it was just going to be a soda bar."
Mayor Higgins, an ex officio member of Look Park's Board of Trustees, offered a different opinion of the online advertisement in an interview with the Advocate.
"They had an expectation that the license bill was going to go through before the party," said Higgins. "I think they just put it up there and then forgot."
The license bill Higgins is referring to is a home rule petition put forth by the Northampton City Council in May, 2007, seeking to allow holders of the five seasonal all-liquor licenses to convert them to year-round all-liquor licenses. The petition wintered in Boston with the state legislature, underwent numerous language changes and was sent back to Northampton to pass through the council again.
Meanwhile, the five seasonal all-liquor license holders, including Look Park, must comply with state and local liquor laws during the dry period between Jan. 15 and March 31.
However, on at least two separate occasions since Jan. 15, Look Park violated the terms set forth in the commission's letter regarding permitted activity during the hiatus—and, prior to the Advocate's inquiries, may have been ready to violate it again with its Valentine's Day party. During Jan. 19 and 20 events at the Garden House, patrons brought their own alcoholic beverages to the establishment, effectively putting the Garden House in the position of flouting the license commission's Jan. 15 letter specifically stating that "BYOB is not allowed." According to an eyewitness who spoke to the Advocate on the condition of anonymity, bartenders provided by Look Park served the beverages from behind the Garden House bar.
During the Advocate's initial interview with Higgins, she stated that while she was aware the Park was talking about hosting BYOB events, she could not confirm that the two violations had occurred. Higgins also maintained that she thought BYOB was allowed.
"I thought it was okay for them to do so," said Higgins. "If it's not, we'll look into it."
Look Park's Director of the Board of Trustees Ed Etheridge did not return a phone call seeking comment. However, when Higgins called the Advocate back 20 minutes after her initial interview on the matter, she said that she had spoken with Etheridge. "I just talked to Ed and he said that wasn't supposed to be the case," said Higgins, referring to the assertion that Look Park provided the bartenders to serve alcohol at the Jan. 19 and 20 events. "[Etheridge said the eyewitness] may have seen a bartender who has also freelanced for us," said Higgins.
The mayor also clarified her position on BYOB in that subsequent interview.
"A.B.C.C. doesn't have a written policy on [BYOB]," said Higgins. "We've asked them for it in writing and we haven't gotten it. And the local board doesn't have a policy [on BYOB]. Over the years, we've gotten different things from [the A.B.C.C.]."
Contacted several times by the Advocate, A.B.C.C. officials, including Executive Director Ralph Sacramone, repeatedly declined to comment on the Garden House's apparent violations or discuss the commission's official policy regarding BYOB and seasonal all-liquor licenses. The officials said they could not discuss any issues, including specific actions of the Garden House, that might come before the committee.
While the Jan. 15 letter to all seasonal liquor license holders from the license commission, as well as the subsequent Feb. 7 letter from the commission to Look Park, doesn't leave much doubt about the commission's position on BYOB events or the serving of liquor during the hiatus of Jan. 15 to March 31, Mayor Higgins seemed confident that any possible violations will not interfere with the Garden House's ability to secure an expanded license.
"Other places in the city have had violations and they still have upgraded their licenses," said Higgins. "We don't have a commercial death penalty for people who make mistakes."
