Taking wine sales fight to the 'burbs

Liquor store owners have been making presentations to officials in some local towns, urging them to oppose a statewide ballot question that would allow more supermarkets to sell wine.

Some officials have taken positions on the proposal, while others have shied away, saying it's not their place to take sides on a state issue.

Question 1 on the Nov. 7 ballot would allow local authorities to issue licenses for retail food stores to sell wine. The number of licenses would depend on the size of the community.

Liquor store owners are battling the proposal, saying they are better at policing access to alcohol. Supermarket owners argue that shoppers should have the convenience of picking up a bottle of wine with all the other ingredients for dinner.

Jim Civilinski, a Foxborough liquor store owner who lives in Norton, urged Bellingham selectmen at an Oct. 16 meeting to oppose the ballot question. He was accompanied by Scott Bender, owner of Denny's Liquors in Bellingham.

Ronald Picard, a Bellingham selectman, recused himself from the presentation. Afterward he said he was uncomfortable with hearing only one side of the debate and did not want the selectmen's meeting to become a forum for state issues.

"People will think it's a given that we're against the ballot question" just by allowing the store owners to speak, Picard said in a telephone interview.

The chairman of the selectmen, Jerald Mayhew, said the majority of the board approved the idea of hearing the presentation.

"They're businessmen and taxpayers in our town and have the right to be heard," Mayhew said.

Mayhew said the board was unable to reach a representative from the Massachusetts Food Association, which represents the state's grocery stores, for a rebuttal.

The selectmen listened but in the end did not take a position on the issue.

At a recent selectmen's meeting in Medway, Liquor World owner George Joannides made a similar pitch, saying that liquor store owners are mobilizing to meet with as many selectmen as possible. Medway selectmen did not take a position.

The Franklin Town Council turned the liquor store owners away, voting at their Oct. 4 meeting to keep debate on state issues out of their meetings.

Kim Hinden, spokeswoman for the grocery store group, said in a telephone interview that local liquor store owners are distorting the facts.

She said the owners are wrong when they claim that passing the ballot question will automatically result in a flood of new licenses.

"They're failing to mention that this is all about local control," she said. "If the measure passes, towns will be able to decide" who qualifies as a grocery store and will continue to decide, on a case-by-case basis, who gets a license to sell wine.

She said towns could increase license fees to offset the cost of additional policing to ensure public safety if additional licenses are granted.

Hinden said the grocery lobby has tried for 20 years to change the state's liquor license laws through the Legislature. She said liquor store owners are simply worried about having more competition for wine sales.

Some grocery stores already hold liquor licenses, but supermarket chains have been limited to three licenses. If passed, the law is expected to result in the issuance of many more licenses.

Some local officials have joined the Massachusetts Package Stores Association in opposing the ballot initiative.

In Wrentham, selectmen heard a presentation and voted to approve a resolution opposing Question 1. Town Administrator Steven Boudreau said there was not much discussion. The resolution said the initiative would "jeopardize the economy, vitality, and safety of the town of Wrentham as neighborhood businesses are replaced by national megastores."

Chief Robert Irving of the Wayland police told the Wayland Business Association in a recent talk that Question 1 was a bad idea because it could lead to more underage drinking.

"As a public safety officer, I know it's just not a good idea for more outlets to make alcohol available to children," Irving said in an interview. "Younger people working at supermarkets might turn a blind eye to those who are buying alcohol, and they're increasing the amount of work law enforcement will have to do to oversee the situation."

Wayland police rely on sting operations to ensure that businesses are not selling alcohol to minors, Irving said. In the past year there were three violations, two at restaurants and one at a grocery store that has a liquor license.

Marlborough's Licensing Board, chaired by Walter Bonin, heard a presentation from the liquor store owners and decided to take a stand against the ballot question.

Bonin said grocery stores had not asked to make a presentation, but he said he had read the Massachusetts Food Association's information on the issue.

He cited self-service check outs and youthful employees as reasons to keep wine sales out of supermarkets and other stores.

Liquor stores are more vigilant because their licenses could get suspended if they sell to a minor, and they rely on that license to make a profit. Supermarkets would not be as vigilant because wine sales would be only a small part of their business, Bonin said.

"The proponents of the question say it could save shoppers $3 million a year, which averages out to about $10 per person. That hardly justifies taking the additional risk of alcoholic beverages falling into the wrong hands," said Bonin.