Select Board Warns Against Stroll Becoming ‘Holiday Pub Crawl’

CHATHAM – Officials are worried that the proliferation of one-day liquor license permits issued for this weekend’s Christmas By The Sea could lead to “a holiday stroll pub crawl.”

Thirteen permits were approved for downtown shops to serve patrons beer and wine during Friday evening’s stroll, an annual event sponsored by the chamber of commerce and merchants association. It’s not the first time the select board has granted one-day liquor permits, but it is by far the largest number approved for a single event.

Select board members warned shop owners that the permits come with an obligation to comply with state and local laws regarding the sale and serving of alcoholic beverages, including not allowing patrons to leave the premises with beer or wine in open containers.

The warning comes after a complaint received by the town following the Oct. 21 Oktoberfest event. According to Police Chief Michael Anderson, an employee of a downtown shop observed alcohol serving policies not being strictly enforced by the establishment and seeing people with open containers of alcohol on the street.

Anderson said the department had three police officers assigned to the two areas where alcohol was being sold at Oktoberfest — the parking lots at Kate Gould Park and the town offices — as well as two officers walking Main Street, and no violations were observed.

Anderson and Shanna Nealy, communications coordinator in the town manager’s office who administers liquor license, met recently with chamber and merchants members to reinforce the rules for one-day permits.

“We reminded them of their obligations and requirements and that we take this seriously,” Anderson told the select board Nov. 30. “We just want to make sure the holiday stroll doesn’t turn into the holiday stroll pub crawl.”

The town has a strict bylaw that makes possessing alcohol in an open container in public an arrestable offense.

“It’s something we don’t want to use,” Anderson said. “We’d rather have education be one of the tools in the tool belt as opposed to arrest.”

He added that while he doesn’t anticipate problems during the stroll, “we wanted to get out in front of it and give a nice, gentle reminder of what this is and what it’s not.”

The select board has wide discretion in granting one-day alcohol permits, which, unlike annual alcohol permits, do not require state approval, Nealy noted.

Board members expressed the most concern for plans by the Chatham Rotary Club to sell commemorative mugs containing beer or wine from a tent at the Cape Cod Five property, an arrangement they feared held the most potential for abuse.

Club president Ted Atwood said members serving will undergo online alcohol safety training and will control access to the tent.

“We aren’t there as much to sell spirits as to raise money,” he said.

Select board members were reluctant to grant the permit, expressing concern that it could set a precedent. Most of the one-day license requests came from downtown stores, but the prospect of a fundraiser selling alcohol in the open was troubling, said board chair Cory Metters.

“We want to keep this a fun event, and we don’t want to drive it in the direction that we’re having a — again I hate to use it — a holiday bar crawl with the holiday cheer getting very festive,” he said.

Board member Shareen Davis was concerned that a patron would walk out of the tent with alcohol in the mug or fill it up at one of the licensed shops. Metters agreed that was a distinct possibility.

“I do think you’re going to have some idiot pouring a drink into the cup as they’re walking around,” he said.

Anderson was opposed to granting the Rotary permit.

“I think this is a little bit outside of the normal spirit” of the event, he said. While he expressed support for the Rotary Club, he added that he’d be “happy to have you sell a mug with something other than alcohol in it.” While the club’s intentions are good, Davis said she could see more nonprofit organizations petitioning to do something similar next year, “and all of a sudden the stroll turns into something other than what it should be.”

“It’s a first time for us,” Atwood said, adding that other Rotary Clubs have staged similar events. At the request of board member Dean Nicastro, he agreed to add the town to the liability insurance policy the club secured for the event.

The board voted 3-2 to issue the club a one-day permit, with Metters and Davis opposed.

Establishments issued one-day permits to serve beer and wine Dec. 8 last Tuesday were Lola Mer, Chatham Threadworks, Ports and Company, Mark August, Black Dog, Fisherman’s Daughter, and Pine Acres Realty. Where the Sidewalk Ends was issued a permit for Dec. 9. On Nov. 7, the board also granted one-day permits for Dec. 8 to Sundance Clothing, Chatham Clothing Bar and If the Shoe Fits.

Several of the shops did not have representatives at last Tuesday’s session. Board members warned that in the future, if representatives don’t show up to present a one-day alcohol permit request, they likely won’t be granted.

“It shows responsibility that this is a very serious application,” Davis said.

Board members plan to hold a review of the event at a future meeting. Board member Michael Schell asked Anderson to keep a “rigorous record” of any reported issues, which “will influence the next time somebody comes to ask” for a one-day permit.

The police department will have increased patrols on Main Street during this weekend’s stroll, Anderson said.

“And quite frankly, some of their primary duties are going to be inspections and enforcement,” he said.