Council President Bill Dwight called the lottery "the best of a lot of bad options."
NORTHAMPTON — The dust has settled after Northampton's "Liquor License Lottery," with the name of Bistro Les Gras at 25 West St. drawn at random from a field of seven contenders for the valuable license at the close of a License Commission hearing Oct. 1.
Elizabeth Martinez, who owns the French-influenced farm-to-table restaurant in the Smith College neighborhood with her husband Daniel, said she was thrilled, and that the license would help with the growth and stability of their business.
But debate continues over the process, with some saying the city's License Commission should have evaluated the applicants on their merits and made a choice based upon benefit to the city, rather than drawing a name at random from a lottery drum.
Commission chairman Bill Rosen announced on Sept. 22 that a lottery would be held, but the commission did not take a formal vote to hold the lottery until Oct. 1, the day of the drawing itself. Minutes from a July commission meeting show all three commissioners agreeing that a lottery would be "fair."
Earlier this year, West Springfield was in a similar situation, with a rare, valuable license to award, and six applicants in the mix — but no lottery was held. Instead, the commission awarded the prize in May to Pintu's Indian Palace on the basis of its parking capacity, track record, lack of violations, seating capacity, and contributions to the community.
In Northampton, applications were received from Treydon's Bar and Grill, which would open at the former Kathy's Diner at 6 Strong Ave.; Bistro Les Gras at 25 West St.; Sierra Grille at 41A Strong Ave.; Hinge nightclub at 48 Main St.; Ibiza Tapas at 7 Strong Ave.; Local Burger at 16 Main St.; and Sylvester's at 111 Pleasant St. The seven applicants made presentations to the commission on Sept. 22 and 23, and the lottery was held a week later.
The only venues opposed by any member of the commission were Treydon's and Hinge. On Oct. 1, commissioner Elaine Real voted to remove the two from the pool, questioning their financial viability and lack of track record, but was outnumbered by commission chairman Bill Rosen and commissioner Brian Campadelli.
"I don't know that much about them," said Campadelli, before voting to keep Hinge, and its not-yet-proprietor Aaron Kater, in the running. As for Treydon's, Campadelli said "I used to eat at Treydon's when it was open in Easthampton," before casting his vote of support.
Rosen said he had questions about Hinge, but told the 28-year-old Kater "you deserve a chance to succeed" and that it would be "great to have more live music downtown." Hinge not only serves food, but has live entertainment and DJ dancing several nights a week.
The name on Hinge's license application was not Kater's, but that of Brian Assaunt, who on Sept. 22 described himself to the commission as the "51-percent owner." Kater on that date said he was saving up his money to buy Assaunt out. Nonetheless, he described himself to the commission as "the new owner of Hinge." On Oct. 1, Kater at first told commissioners he would apply for a bank loan to renovate the premises, then told them he didn't need any outside financing at all.
Hinge was also the only applicant to meet any opposition from the public. On Sept. 23, downtown property manager Jeff Dwyer spoke out against Hinge, saying the nightclub under Assaunt hadn't been a good neighbor. Kater responded that under his management, things would be different.
Peter St. Martin, who owns Sylvester's with his partner Maureen McGuiness, said he sympathized with the License Commission.
"I understand why they held the lottery." St. Martin said. "I wouldn't have wanted to choose from among the five very qualified applicants."
St. Martin said he meant no disrespect, but that Hinge and Treydon's didn't have the track record of the others.
O'Brian C. Tomalin, owner and manager of the Sierra Grille, said the commission should have set a higher bar at the outset, eliminated applicants who were not qualified, deliberated, and made a decision based upon merit and benefit to the community, not chance.
There were "too many questions" about Treydon's and Hinge, he said, adding that he was surprised the commission let the two remain in contention. "I object that everybody made the cut," said Tomalin.
Tomalin also said the commission should have been more specific in defining the concept of "community benefit" in determining the fate of the license. Taxes generated and jobs created could have been part of the equation, he said, as well as experience and track record. "I have years of experience managing liquor licenses. We have never had any kind of compliance problem," he said. "We create jobs, and we pay a lot of taxes to the city."
Sierra generated $100,000 in sales taxes last year, a portion of which went went to the city in the form of a .75 percent local option meals tax, said Tomalin. Sierra Grille also sustains 28 employees, he said. Tomalin said he is "surrounded" by restaurants that offer full alcohol, putting him at a competitive disadvantage.
Tomalin said he has a lot of respect for the restaurant proprietors who vied for the license, but that the process was flawed. He has an appointment to meet with Mayor David J. Narkewicz Monday to discuss his concerns.
Kater, found working late Thursday afternoon at Hinge, said he was not all that disappointed he did not prevail in the lottery. "There will be other chances," he said.
Kater said the commission should have narrowed down the applicants to the most qualified before holding a lottery. Asked if he understood that would probably have eliminated him from contention, he said he didn't mind.
Kater said the decision to hold a lottery was probably the best way to ease the public's mind that there was no favoritism or conflict of interest exhibited by commissioners.
He also said the state should lift its population-based cap on liquor licenses. "It should be up to the town," he said.
Lifting the cap would eliminate motivation for licensees to hold on to the permits for years, never putting them to use, simply because of their value as a commodity, he said. "So let Eric (Suher's) license he had stashed in his back pocket crash in value," said Kater.
"I know I was the most controversial (applicant)," Kater said. "I mean, I'm the new guy in town, and I'm young."
Several storefronts down Main Street, Jeff Igneri of Local Burger said he was happy for Bistro Les Gras. "The license will help them grow their business," he said. "(Daniel and Elizabeth Martinez) are wonderful people, and it's a good fit."
Igneri said he would not apply for a beer and wine license, having lost an opportunity for the all-alcohol license. "People can still bring a bottle of wine or six pack to Local Burger," he said. "It's a good, low-cost dining option for lots of folks."
Four of the applicants — Bistro Les Gras, Sierra Grille, Hinge, and Ibiza Tapas — already served beer and wine. Local Burger, known for its late-night food scene, lets people bring their own bottles, and Sylvesters, famous for breakfast and lunch, would have expanded to dinner with the license. Treydon's, a former Easthampton restaurant, does not exist. But applicant Landon Jenkins said he would have purchased the former Kathy's Diner and re-opened if granted a liquor license.
Commission chairman Rosen did not respond to an email requesting comment on the lottery process, and whether, in retrospect, it was the best approach.
City Council Vice President Jesse Adams said the commission should not have held a lottery to award the license. "I have great respect for the commission, but I would have preferred the decision to have come after genuine deliberation, and not left to chance," he said. Adams said the License Commission is appointed to make just those hard decisions.
Council President Bill Dwight called the lottery "the best of a lot of bad options." He noted that when liquor licenses are privately sold, there's no vetting process to determine if the recipient will provide "community benefit."
Dwight said the real problem is the artificial cap on full-pour liquor licenses imposed by the state legislature. Early this year, a proposal to lift the cap was approved by the Massachusetts Senate but died in the House.
With cities and towns see their Main Street stores losing retail traffic to the Internet, Dwight said, the health of downtowns is increasingly dependent upon the bar and restaurant trade. He said the legislature will see increased pressure from municipalities to lift the "archaic and dysfunctional" population-based cap.
The license awarded Oct. 1 is that seized from businessman Eric Suher in May on the grounds that it constituted an unused "pocket license." Because Northampton exceeds the state quota for full-pour licenses, no more are being issued. As a result, they generally change hands privately for many thousands of dollars. Commissioners said they could not remember the last time a license was awarded by the city.
In advertising the availability of the license, the commission reserved the right to consider the "broad interests of the city" in making its award.