Cork Wine & Spirits Denied Liquor License In Bel Air

BEL AIR, MD — A would-be business owner hoping to open a large liquor store at Tollgate Marketplace faced significant opposition Wednesday at a hearing about the liquor license application. The Harford County Board of Liquor Control voted 3-1 to deny the license for Cork Wine & Spirits.

Cork had been trying to obtain a Class A-1 liquor license, which would allow for sales of beer, wine and liquor seven days a week in the space where Party City used to be.

A small herd of lawyers represented those opposed to the proposal, and their clients included both business owners and community members concerned about the impacts of the 9,428-square-foot store on their own livelihoods and safety.

Due to the amount of opposition, the liquor board hearing was held at Waters Edge in Belcamp.

There were six factors commissioners had to consider in determining whether the liquor board should grant the license request, according to the Maryland Alcoholic Beverage Code:

• Public need and desire for license. “There really isn’t a need at this time for another liquor store in Bel Air,” Harford County Liquor Control Board Chair Butch Tilley said. “The public is adequately served” and demographic studies did not show growth for the town of Bel Air that would necessitate a new business, he added, based on presentations from both the applicant and the protesters.
• Number and location of existing license holders. “We felt that that was also appropriate for the town of Bel Air and the surrounding areas,” Tilley said of the existing makeup.
• Potential effect on existing license holders: Tilley said those against Cork provided a “compelling argument” that the current license holders would be adversely affected. The daughter of the owners of Cheers Wine & Spirits said: "We would most likely have to close our doors" if Cork came, because it was 0.3 mile away. The owner of Fallston Liquors had a similar message. "We’ll be one of the first ones to go," he said. Representatives from Bel Air Liquors, Discount Liquor, Festival Spirits & Wine and Greenbrier Wine & Spirits also turned out to show their opposition and express concern.
• Potential commonality or uniqueness of the products offered by the applicant. “Liquor is a commodity, and there was no compelling reason showed that they would be unique in the marketplace,” Tilley said. Cork Wine & Spirits Treasurer Joseph Vales, who lives in Hampstead, said the liquor store would be “visually appealing,” with an upscale wine room and glass work, and it would “give customers an experience they are not going to get anywhere else” as far as customer service.
• Impact of the license for which application is made on the health, safety, and welfare of the community, including issues relating to crime, traffic, parking, or convenience. “We felt that the traffic and parking issues at the said location would be detrimental to not only the other lessees but to the public at large,” Tilley said. There is no rear-loading capacity at the store, and citizens testified about their concerns around the exit by Sprouts and Home Depot.
• Granting of the license is not necessary to accommodate the public. Tilley said there was one dissenting commissioner. Commissioner Paul Majewski II said he saw how the business would impact licensees. However, he said: “Personally I felt that this would bring outside alcohol sales ... due to the fact of the surrounding businesses that bring in traffic from other parts of the county and other counties.” Majewski added that he thought it was “accommodating” the public to have a liquor store in the Tollgate Marketplace near Sprouts and Home Sense.

Tilley said the decision was "one of the toughest" he has had to make in his five years as a commissioner for the liquor board.

Commissioners said they were concerned about the lack of information the owner had about everything from staffing to inventory to rent.

Vales said he "hasn’t had the opportunity to meet with the other investors" and did not want to say how many there were. He said he was leaving his teaching career to open the liquor store and did not want to give answers to questions he did not have information about.

"I maybe lack a little bit of experience, but we're going to do everything we can," Vales said, to "bring a sense of pride" to Tollgate Marketplace.

“We should have gotten some more details,” Commissioner Cheryl Davis Kohl said. "Other businesses are protesting, being honest, putting their cards on the table."

Fellow commissioner Frederic L. Merchant agreed and said: "I'm not convinced" that Cork met criteria required for a license to be granted.

Joseph Snee, the attorney representing the JBST Enterprises, Inc., the group behind Cork Wine & Spirits, told Patch after the decision was handed down that he advised his clients to "sleep on it," following a hearing that lasted more than eight hours, and they planned to regroup early next week.

If the group wanted to appeal, the next step would be to take the case to Harford County Circuit Court.

The appeal must be made within 30 days of the decision from the liquor board.

This is a developing story and will be updated.