Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Today is Monday, July 14th. Thank you for joining us um for our rescheduled meeting. Uh tonight I am joined by my fellow commissioners Mike McAteeir,
Alexandria Christmas, Emily Churniaak, myself Marty McAlpine, our licensing clerk Naomi Libron, we have be from the licensing department. We also have uh Chief Hton from the Chelsea Police
Department joining us this evening and I see officer Mclofflin um is with us um as well. Um, we have a fairly quick agenda this evening. A couple of housekeeping notes before we do get started. Um, please be sure when you do
come up to speak to us be uh this evening that you step up to the microphone and you state your name and reason for being before us clearly. If there are multiple people speaking on the same subject, please step aside and let whomever is speaking step up to that
microphone. So that makes it easier for us to hear you up here as well as anyone in the community that is either watching the meeting live or watching a recording later to also hear all of the discussions that take place here today.
With that being said, we are going to move uh right into things. Uh to start off, we have approval of minutes from a couple of our last meetings. Um,
I do have a notation to adjust uh a section on the minutes from our June 23rd, 2025 meeting. Um, in the first bullet point,
um, there is a line that states the ABCC stated that a warning is given, then a suspension, and lastly, a disciplinary hearing is scheduled. Um, I am asking that that line be adjusted to state as follows. The ABC stated that a warning
may be given by the city prior to a disciplinary hearing. Then the licensing board will schedule a disciplinary hearing if needed, which may result in additional warnings, suspension, modification of license, or revocation of license. Um, my fellow commissioners,
are you okay with that adjustment? Yes. Thank you. Um, with that change to those minutes, um, can I get an approval for the minutes from the June 12th, 2025
meeting and the approval of the minutes from the June 23rd, 20 25 special meeting with those revised notes. A motion to approve and a second. Second. All in favor? I.
Thank you very much. That's for you. Uh just confirming we do not have any update this evening. There's no um clerk's update and there's no communications. Wonderful. We will move right into our
public hearings this evening. First, am I looking at the right one? Yes. Um sorry, I backtracked to last month for a minute. Uh, first on the agenda, we have a public hearing to consider a new amusement and entertainment license application for Axe Entertainment
Incorporated, DBA Toledo Restaurant and Lounge at 73 Winnimus Street, Chelsea. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board. I This happens every everywhere. I I'm It's what happens when you're tall.
Oh, that's it. Well, I was never on stage, so anyway. Um, thanks for thanks for having us here, folks. So, we were here last month on the uh on the alcohol license. We're applying for televisions, uh, amplified
music and live music. All of which is going to be uh, you know, ambient or uh, you know, background music. We're not looking for, you know, dancing or a club or or concerts of any way. So, we want to make sure that we're really respectful of our neighbors. We heard
our neighbors at the last hearing and some of them are here tonight as well. Uh and we know that that particular location has had good experiences in the past and also bad experiences when the occupant really wasn't um sensitive to,
you know, the fact that it's a residential neighborhood. And we're going to make it very important for us and make it a priority to be sensitive and and have a good relationship with our neighbors there. And uh Naomi, am I correct that when we approved that liquor license uh last
month, we gave them the Sunday to Wednesday, 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and 11 to 1 on the weekends? I believe so. Okay. questions from my fellow commissioners to kick things off.
How many televisions the ones um in the upper level, the main level? I I think we had planned somewhere between eight and 10. Not on the upper level. Maybe there'd be might be four there and four on the bottom level, but there are two seating areas on the bottom level. There's a larger one and then a smaller one. I don't know if
televisions will go on the smaller one because it may be more of a like a private banquet area. It's a lot. So, it's like a sports bar kind of thing. Well, have you been into the place? Has to be downstairs. It's broken up a lot. Okay. Yeah. The layout has a few angles where
if you don't have televisions at a certain place, like say for example, we were watching the soccer game. Uh if you didn't have it angled correctly, there'd be quite a few seats that wouldn't be able to see. Okay. dining area. I do recall uh when they were here last
month, they were talking about wanting to be able to have people watching some of the sports games. All right, Mike, any concerns from ISD? No, we didn't have any problems with the last two. We actually didn't get any
complaints back then since rebuilt. Wonderful. Um, other questions from my fellow commissioners for this moment? No, that was it. Chief, good evening. Is uh any members of the public uh were they able to speak last
time? I just don't want Yes, I I I'm definitely going to allow them to speak. Okay. Because I'm uh obviously eager to hear what they say. Um the last two restaurants were passive restaurants. Uh it's a very strange setup. If you've been in there, there's a small bar area,
then a back room, then downstairs is a very enclosed area, and I'm sure the fire department signed off on it. Um, I'm just concerned. I'm glad council said the music's going to be light. Um, we will definitely monitor. I I believe people spend a lot of paid a lot of
money to live upstairs. It's in the neighborhood. Um, I do worry about soccer matches. The the occupancy load is 178 people. That's that's a lot a lot of people in segmented rooms. Uh, so we're absolutely going to monitor that. Um, and I believe I I was not here. I
know Sergeant Chung, I'm just standing in for her. There was questions about the manager and her I believe it was a female that what her expertise was and what her uh knowledge was of running an establishment. Uh, I just want those to be on the record. Like obviously we want
them to do well. There's very limited parking for 178 people. Uh, and um, it's a, you know, kind of a dark area, stock street. We've had a lot of accidents. Uh it's a main truck route to the airport. Um I mean I wish them well, but uh I
think the ATVs now he kind of explained it a little better. They may be in separate rooms. Uh I'm definitely concerned about the live music and soccer matches. And you guys already did vote on the 1:00 a.m. which I would have if I was here in the
sergeant's place made them earn their time where other cities you can't find a place open till 1:00 a.m. anywhere. very few. Chelsea seems to give 1:00 am licenses out too often. Like you go out after tonight, places that were open pre- pandemic to 1:00 am close at 9:00
pm. Um, if it's going to be a restaurant, let's make sure it's a restaurant. Is it a sports bar? You know, what's it going to be? Uh, I guess you've already voted on the hours. So, we'll just do our monitoring. And, uh, I believe our officer who does the inspections on the video cameras, I'm
not sure. He spoke to somebody. So, he's going to reach out to you. And uh I believe our guy was on vacation and we're gonna go over the video system. I'm not he already took care of everything. No, he did tell me today that he was going to reach out to you. Okay. That was my only other concern is the the
30-day video. Seems that uh a lot of times business forget it's 30 days. I want to emphasize it's 30 days of videos. Yep. Rolling continuous. Yep. And it turns over after 30 days. Besides that, uh I have nothing else to add because a lot of it was already done in the uh conference.
So, uh just to reference something else that that you did just state as well. Um we did reference at our meeting last month when we approved the liquor license. Um that we we are a little concerned when it comes to the
entertainment side of things. Um particularly because the reference kept being that the um the music would be down in in the basement level. Um which makes me a little concerned
with how how loud is that really and what environment is that really that we're doing late night down in that level that is not easily viewed by the street. Um, so there's definitely a little bit of concern on on my end and I
think from some of my fellow commissioners as well. Um, not to speak for you, but I think that we we did reference that at our meeting last month. Yeah, we are very clear, Chief, that you know, we are giving grace and we can
easily take that away if they come before us with complaints. So, we're very all of us are on the kind of on the same page on that. No, it's a beautiful location. I and I wish them well. It's been sitting idle for too long. I uh I do I wish it well. I just, you know, obviously I've been here a
long time and uh licensing and issues with bars is uh is one of my pet peeves in this city and I just like what let them know if you do something we are on you. That that's the only thing I can say. And just to be honestly my last comment
is always call the police. Don't ever try to hide anything. If there's fights happen at bars, things happen at bars. If you call us, no issue. We understand that's business. It's when bars do not call us and victims come into the station and we have to come back and get
video. Uh just you do your obligation, know your rules and regulations and uh I I like I said, I wish you well and hope you have no problems and you're very successful. Thank you. So just want to make a point that we I had pretty much chased that officer down. I called the the station
like five times. At the fifth time they found who was the officer there. Just for future reference, there's one officer who knows this and uh he should be in my opinion should be involved in this process here because he's the one that told me he's
that's those were his words that he's the one person there who knows the regulations. Well, that is totally false. Uh every one of our offices has the regulations on hand and you're supposed to have one person. I think he's talking about the video system. We have one officer who's
trained is an expert in retrieving video. Any officer can go and request video from you and you'll get a letter and you'll have like a time period you'll have to deliver it by. Uh so I just want to make sure it's accurate what he's saying. Uh every officer in our department is a licensing agent.
Every officer has access to our licensing rules which they should have on person. It's the expert to pull the camera out. If it goes to court, he is uh like a certified expert to retrieve video. He may have a different system than 38 other establishments in the city
and that officer is uh the one that we count on and we we only do have one that is uh but we get the job. So we're talking to make sure that we're all clear on this. We're talking about that officer who is the specialist in the video systems
being available to go out and check to retrie retrieve video if something happens. Right. But in this case, we're talking about him coming out to speak with you about your particular system. So, pretty much what uh what I understood on our uh previous hearing
here is that before I finish the system, I have to obtain the okay from the police department and I kept on calling to find out, okay, I'm trying to put the system there in place. Who can tell me what to do and the angles?
Okay, that makes sense. Okay, that makes more sense. extremely knowledgeable, helpful, but uh there was a little confusion to find that that specific officer. No. So, I I will apologize for that. Yeah, we have like obviously it's summer time and he he was probably on vacation, but we do do that. He does come out and
he does uh assist to make sure the angles are proper and we're able to re retrieve it. So, I appreciate it. Okay. And I apologize for I was thinking someone else told you something that was totally uh not accurate. So, uh, I we're on the same page.
Okay, perfect. Um, is there anyone from the public that would like to speak on the matter of the Yes. Hello everyone. I'm William Kaufman. I am the treasurer of the condo association and I have a agreement that
we've signed that is in accordance with our bylaws speaking to noise in particular that includes quiet hours that start at certain times. We've had multiple conversations about how easily noise can permeate vertically. So, um we've written a whole document about
that and he has signed it and also we'll have the condo owner sign it as well and do our best to enforce it in good faith. Um, but it's fairly stringent and uh we're going to see what we can do to work together. I mean, I'd say that, you know, like TV is is a thing and you
know, people cheering is easily heard. Uh, but you know, we do live in a city and if it's within the regular hours, then we should be okay. And um, in terms of those regular hours, those hours that we have granted that license for or are you
these are more stringent than that? Yes. So, what sort of hours are you as the condo association asking for? That Sunday through Thursday, quiet hours begin at 9:30 p.m. and that Friday through Saturday, quiet hours begin at 11:00 p.m.
So, the idea is that on the first floor, a regular conversation would be able to be had at a normal volume, that music will never be loud enough to be heard upstairs or provoke people to speak louder than that. And if it is, we're going to go through some sessions together where we will listen and talk
to each other and communicate and relay what you're actually hearing. Yeah. And then the staff and everybody will also be aware of that. Um the operators will be aware of this agreement and uh you know we're all going to sign it and try to work together. Thank you for sharing that.
So one thing up to the microphone please. Thank you. One thing that we did is like we and I were working together to make sure that uh the neighbors especially the people especially upstairs are not disturbed at all. So we've had as he said multiple conversations as soon as
we started negotiating I reach out to him and we've been we became like good friends in doing that. Uh he already relayed concerns because there's one door that uh the doors the position for
the door makes a lot of noise when the door slams right through his apartment. The doors in the back will cause noise to other neighbors. The way we handle trash might also disturb some of the other neighbors. and our his concern is
because our goal and I think that speaks to what that uh I'm not sure how to refer to you guys but uh how one of your colleagues referred before our concern is that the first floor anybody that can that come
to have a dinner there or drinks they'll be able to have a conversation so the music will not disturb the conversation and on the lower level you can still have a conversation but there will be a little louder music so we don't it's not that we're going to be a disco dance
whatever it's not the case but it's a little louder so that way we don't disturb them and we have two separate ambients there that's the whole the whole thing in walking the premises on Friday um I'd say that my faith in the two different
level setup is been you know it's solid I mean it it feels like there's a good space downstairs for things that can be a little bit louder and have more of a music oriented lounge experience and that upstairs given they have that space
downstairs there should be not a problem keeping things at a reasonable volume and having that kind of ambiance upstairs but you know we're going to we're going to find out. Um and are you already open? No no no waiting for this license and the BCC
approval as well. Okay. Um is there anyone else from the public that would like to speak on this matter? I don't see anyone. Um, other questions or comments from What is the target date um for your
opening? Sorry to make you get up again. Yeah, sure. So, as soon as we get the license from the EBCC and this license here, we should be able to open within a week. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, it's it's ready. Pretty much painting and stuff like that. Awesome. Thank you.
Thank you. Um thoughts as to the hours for the entertainment license. I I will say personally I'm hesitant to grant an entertainment license until 1:00 a.m. in the that neighborhood because it is pretty residential. Well, I was just going to ask, does it
have to mimic the the Right. It sounds like they're self-governing themselves, which is great. Yeah. But I I would question do are are are we able to allow certain things on the license until one? Like allow radios and TVs until one, but live music has to
end a little earlier. Well, all depends on the licensing commission. So, it usually mimics the hours that you give um the liquor license, but it has to be shut down half an hour
before just like the liquor. Thanks for clarifying that because I thought in the past we mimic what was in the liquor license with that what Naomi just said a half hour which makes sense because you want people to start right vacating wrapping it up. Yeah. So in this case I think we should
stay consistent you know. Yes. If the option to earn, as the chief mentioned, was possible, then I don't see any reason why not to be more stringent with entertainment and let it be earned, especially because it it's
nowhere near this anyway. Thoughts, Emily? I mean, that they're governing themselves. I'd be more afraid of him than us. Exactly. I think they they're in good hands. I am, you know, to be honest. Yeah. I just want to stay consistent. Um
especially we are doing the liquor license matching to their entertainment. Yeah. With also they have their own governance. I'm not concerned about televisions and radios at the that hour. I'm concerned about live music until 1:00 a.m.
But what do you mean by live music? I We're talking music. That's what's on the That's Are you going to have a band, a DJ? It's not going to be I mean Yes. But if it is again it's I mean if you've been to a place that has I mean I've been to some places in this city that are doing stuff that they're
not supposed to be doing. Yeah. I mean outside the city say you got to go up to the you know Capean. If you go up there and there's somebody playing guitar in a in a brunch, you know this type of stuff. We're not talking about a dance party or a concert. I think it would be reasonable
to set some type of time prior to close to say at this point, you know, if it's an hour prior to close or a half hour prior to close, any live music will stop because I don't think that's really what our intentions are here. Our intentions are is having a nice place with a nice
ambient music background. Um, the conversation about it being louder on the bottom floor as opposed to the top floor. Really, we should have said it's going to be softer on the top floor than it is on the bottom floor. And that's just being sensitive to the
upstairs neighbors and the other neighbors. We know we'll be right back in here if there's a problem with noise. It's like a really paramount uh of paramount important to us that our neighbors are happy with us because we'll be back in a month.
I think for me it's just that concern. We seem to continue to have places that come before us. They say that they want to be a restaurant. They They say that they're trying to provide a nice So, just one obser this space for the space downstairs
only fits like one DJ. So, it's super small. Yes, I've been I've been in that restaurant many times. So, the space downstairs that we can have any kind of entertainment other than the TVs, it's super small. Less than it's smaller than a desk like that. So, it's super small. Upstairs, I would
say the size of the space where the chief is. It's not like for a band might be I don't know one uh not acoustic guitar. It's not even Are you thinking that space that's kind of at the top of the stairs that little space we put some glass there? We're
replacing the the wood frame there and put some glass there. That's it. That's pretty much all the renovation. two walls of glass just to have like a nice view of whoever is playing there of one acoustic guitar or whatever. You don't fit a band there. It's so if you go you
see, hey, they're not having a band because you can't even fit a band. It's a super small location. Just to clarify that. I just want to I just want to point that out because we have had this happen a few times in recent years where
somebody claims that they're coming before us for a nice family restaurant or and they want to provide some different food for the community and they're going to be good neighbors. They're going to do all of these things and then the next thing we know they're on social media uh and it's a nightclub
and that's not at all what we are looking for in our community. So, I I just want to make sure that um we're we're bringing that up now and making it very clear that that will will not be um
tolerated if it turns into a thing in the community because we're we're seeing this happen a little too often. um where somebody's they're really good for three to six months and then all of a sudden
they do exactly what it was that we were hoping that they weren't going to do. And we have granted these because we want people to come into the community in open places and we want them to be what it is that they're telling us when they stand here. Um but then lo and
behold, uh it's kind of like the good old bait and switch. They they act like a good neighbor to start and then the next thing I know I'm getting a report from the police department that they've done something that we made it very clear was not okay and then acting like
it was a shock and they didn't know that they couldn't do that. So I reference these things to make sure that we have gone on record that these are the rules. Um this is not what we are looking for while everyone is present. So if you do
come before us at a future meeting, we have video proof that these have been stated, it has been agreed upon that this is not um what is being brought into our community. Um because while we want to have great places for all of us
to go to, I mean all of us live here, we also understand that we have a lot of neighbors around many of these venues and we want to ensure that it is comfortable living situation for everyone as well. So, it's finding that balance of providing that. So, I'm
pleased that the condo association is working closely with you. Um, and I I do hope that u you're able to be successful because we we hate to have places uh come into the community and then not last.
One thing that I want to bring to your attention is like even talk to Will when we start talking. It is a restaurant, but we we want to have like a a a very good tequila bar. I'm just being completely upfront. Uh it's very rare. I
I appreciate tequila. I I love the drink and I want to make sure that if you like tequila, you can come in and try 10 different tequilas. You have you know you we're going to carry the best brands, not just the shelf that you have anywhere. We want to have something that
is special. So yeah, if you say, "Hey, Jean, you're going to have a family restaurant." Yeah, you're going to come in and and delight yourself in very good food, but we're going to have very good drinks as well. So that's our intention. And when I share this with him, he's like, "Oh, I
appreciate tequila." So this something that we want to offer to the public and make sure that everybody understands. We're not coming in and say, "Hey, we're not going to offer good quality drinks there." That's part of the pro the what we're trying to to bring forth.
One of one of the reasons I have faith in this is because of all the communication we've had and also because this concept to me as someone who enjoys going out to restaurants like the rest of you has legs whereas the previous restaurant that was there did not really
and that turned into a lot of really interesting marketing efforts that were extremely disruptive. So, um, you know, not that we weren't for all the wonderful things that were happening down there, but, you know, on a Sunday afternoon when it feels like there's a
drag brunch happening in your home, that's, you know, not the original arrangement, right? So that stipulates that anything above a certain volume is going to happen downstairs and that the upstairs area will always remain very
the idea that we've talked about is that the that that agreement shouldn't that the quiet hours don't matter. Correct. Is that it's always going to be appropriate volume on the first floor. Okay, other questions or does somebody
want to make a motion? I'll make a motion to approve the entertainment license. Second. All in favor? I Please don't disappoint us or him. That's what you really have to make
happy. Yes, if we could, that would be great since you submitted it. Yeah. Uh want to email it to her to Naomi. Uh Naomi, what is your email? I got a card if you know.
Naomi or B either. I won't. Ah, yes. She hadn't asked me yet, but thank you. Perfect. Thank you. Next on the agenda this evening, we have
a public hearing to consider a new garage and repair license application for Mel's Tires and Auto Services, Chelsea Incorporated, DBA, Mel's Tires and Auto Services at 200 to 224 Everett A. Chelsea. Hi.
Hi. And Molina. Hi. Thank you for coming before us this evening. Thank you. Um, can you tell us a bit about your business and why you are applying for a
license? Hi. Uh, my name is Hageda. I am the interpreter. Hello. Because I needed that license for the garage. I didn't know I needed it. Um, I skipped it in the process of the application.
Could she explain the service she's going to provide at that location? We are going to sell new and and used tires and we're going to do mechanic work. And how many bays are you using? I'm sorry.
How many of the bays, the garage doors? Um, seven doors. Seven to put the cars to fix. Yeah, it has nine doors. It actually has six in the back and six
in the front. Yeah. And three in the back. And you're using seven of them. Is that what you said? Um, we're using two in the I'm sorry. No, that's okay. I just things that I don't understand. I want to Yep. That is perfect. That's That's why
we have it. So, we use six in the front and two in the back. Okay. Um and um so is the ninth one just kind of blocked off because you're using it um for more
of a storage type area. Yes. Is that that is the only area we're going to use? And then for parking, um how many spaces does the property have? About for 24 cars.
24 cars. And how many of those are being used by employees versus um for customers? Okay. Only six six spaces for employees and then everything else is open for the public or not the public but customers. Yes. Obviously, you don't want the
general public taking up your parking spaces. Um, and um, so you said that you you had opened and you didn't realize that you need a license. When did you open? November last
about November last year. Okay. Okay. There was like a confu confusion because there was an inspector that went there and he said we could open and then they went to check some other stuff, some other things.
Uh he was thinking that I was here at the meeting. So he it was kind of confusing. Um so you had you had an in you had an inspector come out prior to last November that said
Yeah. when we did the sprinkles the So he he probably gave her an occupancy permit. Yeah. Either didn't tell her or maybe she didn't understand it that you you're okay. You have a light opery permit to open but you still need the license. Maybe didn't mention it.
Yeah. Okay. He was just saying it was safe to open. Yeah. Passed everything in our department. That makes sense. Exactly what happened. It's not the first time it happened. And And then how did we come to learn that you needed to have a license?
Okay. Um I have different location, right? One I just find out two weeks ago that one of employee put music. So that's when I Her name
Naomi and another inspector came here and he say you guys putting music here and I say no because I didn't know but I find out that one of the employee stay there put music. I'm not going to lie
because it's the reason why the police went there. Yeah. And I I didn't know another employee told me that two weeks ago, you know, and just
I don't have that employee anymore. Since we opened there, I tell all the employee that we cannot put music, that we cannot do um noise because of the hotel at front. So, we've been doing
We didn't have any complaints until that complaint that it was out of my control because he wait until we close and I didn't know about it. He even disconnect the camera. That's why I didn't I didn't
find out that he did that, you know, but I I I get rid of that. And so it was because of that complaint. So that complaint another one. Then Naomi find out that we didn't have the the license and and I say yes and she
say no you don't have it I'm the one that understandable okay thank you for sharing that um I also I saw in the the package that
you had also um uh yeah you had a like a U-Haul or a moving truck we we took that I didn't know that I need an special license for that. They told me that they take care of everything
and and until I find out that No. And I just we don't we remove the trucks next day. We took all their trucks. Okay. Yeah. Um Mike, throw this one over to you since it sounds like your department has been involved a little bit.
Yes, we've been there. So, we were there with the the U-Haul trucks and I heard about the music. The other issue is you have a temporary occupy permit for a year. Do you do you have any plan on what you're going to do when the year's up? Um I'm just going to wait.
So what it is is it's a garage. It looks like a garage. Believe it or not, it's not allowed in that zone in the time lapse. So So for that whoever whoever the powers may be, you know, we gave her a temporary form because she has a garage, but that's not allowed.
So why are we having a license now? She's got a one-year occupancy. Well, she had a one-year occupancy that started last November. Last November. Yeah. So, she's got four months left. Potentially. Yeah. Potentially.
So, how does it get renewed? She has to apply again. She'll apply again and there's no guarantee she'll get it renewed. So, we just have to So, this is for four months. We're approving a a license. So, we're basically like back fixing what didn't happen for the past year,
right? Is there any downside to that? No. Okay. I don't think so. I mean, I I feel very bad if she put a down payment on. She to put a lot of work into this building and it's a use that's not even allowed, you know. So, and no one told her that wasn't allowed.
The owner? No, the owner didn't tell that. But but why why was a temporary occupancy granted for something that's not allowed? I think because it's a because it's a garage. It's already set up like a
garage. You really can't do anything else but put a garage in. Right. So, you know, I think a garage for storage or a garage any garage any anything like that. Nothing else works there. Nothing else, you know. Well, right. But if it's not zoned for that, right, but it's already there. Two years
left. It was closed two years labs. So it was there legally and all of a sudden it's not because it went by with two years with nothing in it. Yes. They lost all the prote whatever it was. After two years you lose your protected right
but can't it be a garage again or no? They might have to there might have to be some zoning work done to make that possible. Huh? A wow electric homeless.
I Yeah, I got some of that. Can you I got certain words like wrapped up in the lot of money on that building like $500,000 because it was closed for four years. It took me like three months to take in homeless from there. Homeless used to
live there and homeless. Then they gave me like a temporary for one year because the landlord didn't want to give me my money back, you know, and let's see what happened.
So, but it's been a rash all the time. That's why I understand they changed the zone in. So ha have you started doing any work yet to try to make sure it's granted
after November. You need to talk to John Dri. She said what what I like to know what can I do? Maybe she could talk to John the Priest. I'm the the guy who says it with the black and white. John the Priest is more of a guy that, you know,
progressively he's, you know, planning. And can you tell her in case she doesn't know who John Dri is and how she contacts him? He's a director of permanent landing use planning. Okay. I think you benefit from getting some advice from a lawyer as well, too. So, you you could recoup some of the money
or if you want to continue doing service in the future. Yeah. Because the the the problem that I see happening is if if we grant this license, but your occupancy permit is up in November,
then the license can't be used until you have an occupancy permit. So, if we grant it, you're good until that occupancy permit that you have expires. And then if they don't grant you another one, you don't have a license again. you. Uh, so it's a bad
She already paid for just to apply, correct? For for which thing? For our license, the license that she's applying for. Okay. Yeah. So, we we can grant her one, but it's only good so long as she has an occupancy permit. So come November when
your temporary one expires, if you have not been able to work out either a permanent occupancy per occupancy permit or another temporary occupancy permit, the license that we granted is null as
of the date that that occupancy permit expires. Does that make sense? Yeah. because and we can't do anything about that because the VA the licenses are only valid when you have a valid occupancy permit. Um so that's where it's very important that you make sure that you are in
communication um with John Deestri. Yeah. Shouldn't she be doing this now? I would and I would be starting it now. Isn't that what she saying? Instead of saying, you know, you should talk to John Deere, you should say, you know, that she should start the process of
doing the special permit or special variance because this process takes how long? Few months because you still need to apply, go to a public hearing, state your case, and then depending on their decision, even before just to get the laws changed
maybe potentially. Yeah. You have a good case, but you need to start doing the work now. Yeah. I'm going to start Yeah, because otherwise you're going to end up unfortunately in the exact same situation and you'll end up closed. Okay. And and I' I'd hate to see you do that,
especially trying to to put so much work into this and the money that you've put into this. I mean, obviously the fact that you've been operating without a license isn't great. I'd like to believe that it's 100% just a confusion.
um because I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. So, I'd like to believe that that's the case. Um but I can pretty much tell you that it is 100% on everybody's radar now. So, um when that um license then or when the
occupancy permit expires, you're on everybody's radar. So, you're not going to be able to keep operating like you had been. Uh the other issue when you when when I did go by when you were open when I thought you did have a license there was constantly cars parked on the sidewalk.
Cars people maybe not changing tires but doing work outside of the area. You got to tighten that up you know. Yeah I we don't work outside. There were people there were definitely people with the maybe not working but the mechanics were there and they were checking cars and they they were doing stuff outside too. Hoods up that has to
be done in the b in the bay. Nowhere to park. Yeah, it was. It was bedum. And partially because there was no U-Haul trucks in there. That's, you know, there was bedum there. Can I ask a question for you, Mike? Um, based upon what's inside of our packet?
Yeah. How would I know that this is temporary? It should say temporary on it. If it doesn't, then that's an accident. I I I wasn't the inspector involved. Look how far my packet.
It's towards the back. Third page from the back. Can we verify that it's temporary? Say temporary. It it definitely is temporary. I don't see it here, but might be a typo as well.
So something to look as well too to I know what you're saying but as the business owner she would not know that. Yeah. Oh, she know it's temporary. Yeah. Okay. Oh, yeah. She definitely know. Okay. So, with the current stuff that we
have now, what should we do? Okay. So, before we move on to um any sort of a vote um questions, comments from our police department? No. Well, I'm obviously I'm not an expert in the licensing, but I do know that our officers did respond late night
uh from complaints from the hotel. That's how loud the music was after hours. I just want to know what happened to that employee. Does he still work there? That's a that's a good sign. I honestly thought the place was up and running and uh issues we've had in that past in that location. Uh I'm not sure if you
research they had to when it was a farmer place they had to designate like four spots for uh for people to come in if um so for uh what do they call customer parking. So some of those spots because the previous owners back they
too try to rent vehicles without a license. People were parking all along Everett Avenue, blocking the bays. And I believe there's a decision, if you check the records, that there was either two to four spots have to be left open for visitors, people coming in to have their vehicles. So So it was an used auto dealership and
and they filled every spot with a car. Yeah, they filled every spot with a vehicle. Yeah. So nobody could actually pull in and park anywhere. No one could actually go shopping there. And they didn't just fill in the park spots. They they jammed them. They jammed them everywhere. In fact, I think the licensing commission made them Yes. U label spaces.
Yes. And that's where they came up with your number if you have 24. That's what happened. There was no uh line spaces. The commission at the time voted them to uh have someone go down and see what the, you know, ends up being, I guess, 24 spaces. But besides that incident, I thought they were just up and running as
a you know, we usually not that's not part of our purview that we do inspections of these type of places. Thank you, Chief. Is there anyone from the public that would like to speak on this matter? Seeing no one. Um, thoughts for my
fellow commissioners? I mean, she has four months of business, so I have no problem like granting the license, but it looks like you're going to need to do some work if you want to continue doing business there after November. So,
yeah, no problem. Just keep it do better this time, the next five months did the first seven. So you'll you want to like we said immediately reach out to John Driest with the city
and um start that process of trying to get approval to be able to have that be an ongoing thing because it will take you months. Um and the um
uh very very important to do that because it it takes months to get that done. So you stand a really good chance of it not being done by the time that that occupancy permit expires. So, you'll likely end up having to close
while you then finish that process and hopefully get what you want and then be able to reopen. And then the other thing that you have to make sure that you pay attention to is renewal time and getting all of your paperwork in in a timely manner. So that way come license
renewals, you're you're never stuck in a period where you don't actually have a valid license. Um because then you end up having to come before us and it's not fun for anybody. Um and what hours um since since you're
not currently open, what hours are you planning on being open? 9 to 7. 9 to 7. And is that seven days a week? Um we open we can open Sundays 9 to 4. So 9 to 7 Monday through Saturday and 9
to 4 on Sundays. Okay. Um questions from my fellow commissioners or can we get a motion to approve the new garage and repair license for Mel's tire? to make this
more longer than it should be. But here it says working number of days six. So you're doing seven days a week. Yeah. Okay. And then 7 to 7. That's incorrect. So it's 9 to seven instead. Okay.
Good. I we just want to revise that. Thank you for that. Okay. That'll be page three of four of the licensing application. Yep. H304.
So working number of days should be seven and the hours was 9 to 7 and 9 to 4. And the B is listed. Sorry about that. Thank you. Good eye. I don't like that
font. My eyes are having a hard time on it. Okay. So, with those hours noted, um, can I get a motion to approve the new garage and repair license for Mel's Tire and Auto Services? Motion.
And a second. All in favor? I. Good luck. And, um, please make sure you start that process. Thank you. Next on our agenda this evening, we have a public hearing to consider a cannabis
license change of hours from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. requesting a change to 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. midnight for House of Hermus LLC DBA Chelsea Bud at 267 Broadway Chelsea Mass. Good evening, Madame Chair,
members of the committee, police chief, officer, everybody else. Good evening. Uh, I represent uh Chelsea Bud. I'm our attorney could make it today, but I'm a board member. Uh we um here to respectfully request
um an extension of operating hours from as you mentioned from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. for numerous reasons that are specific to our location and specific to our place which I'll talk about. Um Chelsea Bud was um founded on two core values and that
is uh making cannabis uh affordable and accessible. We make it affordable by reducing our margins significantly. Um, and I don't know if you know, but we are one of the uh lowest priced, most
affordable um uh dispensary in the state of Massachusetts now. And the reasons for for that are numerous why we want to do it. But one of them by making it affordable we reduce street selling and we reduce people from buying the drug uh
the the uh cannabis on the streets and thus buying uh bad product that uh uh uh is detrimental to to to their health. Now accessibility um means true access uh and making it available to people
when they really need it. Um so as I mentioned there's there's a few reasons why we are requesting the extension and some of them are due to hardships. For example in downtown we have uh construction going on as you know big construction and that affects uh uh
traffic that affects uh uh car traffic that affects uh walking traffic that affects parking. So people can't go there and some businesses reported they had uh sales that dropped by 40% and Ola will be able to talk about that because he knows a lot of business owners. So
we're no exception. So that affects that us as well. So we wanted to have um by having um extended hours we'll be able to recover some revenue lost during the day due to the construction. Um now another thing is uh
uh late night and early morning demand. So there's a lot of people that live in Chelsea that work that start work either very early or finish it very late. Nurses uh uh uh hospitality staff leaving restaurants after midnight,
caregivers, delivery drivers and so on. And so a lot of times what we see for example, I'll give you an example. Uh we have people uh you know breathing heavily saying I I I I drove all the way from work. They show up at 901 9:02 knocking on doors. I wanted to make it.
I I just finished work. I was rushing through traffic. Uh I need, you know, my product and people use obviously these products for anxiety, stress, uh uh pain relief, sleep, uh problems, and a lot of different issues. Uh and and we can't serve them. So, they're forced to either
go on the street or not get their products. Same thing early in the morning, people go to works uh to work, construction workers and so on, and they would like to get some product, but we can't service them. So, that's another reason uh why we're requesting it. Now, another thing that I wanted to mention
is that we will we actually make Chelsea safer in the dark by staying late, staying up late. Uh our place is well lit up. We have security licensed security company on on staff at all times. We have about 70 cameras in and
around the place outside. So, we constantly continuously have security licensed security monitoring those cameras. So, they actually make the place safer. Um, another uh reason is um is is people uh by attracting more people to downtown
area will make it more vibrant and people can go to other businesses that we will serve as anchors for and spend money and leave money in Chelsea and perhaps increasing tax revenue as well. So there's a positive there as well as as we see. So uh my introduction in
final um I'll I'll just summarize what I wanted to say is we'll we'll be able to recover lost revenue. Uh there's another actually reason that that I wanted to say. There's also a precedent. Harbor House uh had approve had their hours approved until 11:00 p.m. I think last
year and I read a transcript and uh Sergeant of Police. By the way, I got to give you uh uh uh props because we've had some issues uh where our employees uh hit the uh the button a couple of times. Some some employees and they show up very Wait, we promise we're done with
that because we train our employees and all that stuff, but a couple of times, but they show up immediately. Sorry for deviating, but they show up immediately. They're very respectful and very well trained. So, and we apologize. We retrained everybody, so they don't press those buttons. But, um, so there's
precedent that Harbor House was approved until 11:00. Um, so, uh, uh, uh, uh, in summary, we could recover some of the lost revenue that we lose due to construction. We offer working uh class
and immigrant communities uh more access to the products when they need it. We improve safety by staying later. Uh we bring outside dollars into Chelsea. We make the community more vibrant. Um and we do that without asking for new licenses or expansions. Uh and as a
committee member said earlier today, if there's a problem, you can always take that away. Right. So, so we obviously and we don't foresee any problems, but uh respectfully we request that you grant us to extend our hours of operations and we'll do our best to be part of this wonderful community and
serve. And by the way, we already hire I think about six uh people from Chelsea. If we expand the hours, we're probably going to hire at least a few. And as we grow, we're going to hire uh many many more people. And if uh you you read uh reviews, maybe if you had a chance online, you'll see that we're becoming
really a part of this community. uh really really fast and people are uh appreciating and becoming sort of like a family. I I will say that you you reference Harbor House as setting precedents, but we didn't give them midnight. Yeah. Yeah. I know. looking you're
looking for later than we've granted by by 1 hour due to the fact that we specific to us that we are in downtown location that we're affected by by the I I'll let you speak just in a second that we're affected by the construction and and some of the other things that I mentioned and we can make the community
vibrant right across from us there's that that's that works late. You just approved another license that's going to be working late. There's 7-Eleven that works 24/7. There's people that are going around and frankly before we even opened I saw a lot of people were just sitting and there's like a little vestibule. They
were sitting right next to us. There were homeless people there. Not not to say anything bad but there were people that uh didn't make the place safer if you walk down there. Once we opened that's gone because we're there. We have security present close to 70 cameras around. So I think we're just but we also don't have our liquor stores
open until midnight. Uh maybe not. So, but we're we're requesting respectful until midnight. I know 11 is is is is what you're talking about. We're requesting because of our unique situation with losing revenue and so on, but I'll let all also come in and
and and speak. Hey y'all, good evening. Ola here from Chelsea Bud. Used to live in Chelsea for 5 years. Many of you guys know me. Uh so, um main reason, first of all, guys, I'm not going to mince my words here. I'm going to be straightforward uh with
you guys with what's going on, right? So, pretty much you guys see what's going on on Broadway with the construction. You guys see what's going on with ICE. Um, businesses have suffered negatively. I speak to businesses all the time within the area.
And like Demetri was saying, many people are suffering 40% sales decline. Rent isn't getting any cheaper. The pressure from landlords, and think about it, right? People who are in Broadway, that BR2 district, they're usually paying a premium for that location. So you're
paying a premium for that location. Then on top of that, because of the activity going on for the construction that's going on, you're not reaping you're not really really reaping the benefit of that. You're not getting the value uh for that. And with the situation with ICE and how that's shaken the community
completely. A lot of people are scared, right? They're not coming out to frequent the businesses that they normally frequent. So there's a hit there. Now, we've been open for about six weeks. We're doing decent. This is a hardship request because we are seeing how impactful it is. And if I told you
how much we're paying for rent, oh my goodness. Right. So there's definitely that pressure coming for us, but at the same time, we there are some positives. There is a silver lining that we are seeing. We're seeing that right now we're probably averaging around 150 to 200 people a day coming in. Right. But
the thing that I love and this is why when I came to you guys six years ago, I told y'all you guys were everybody was saying, "Hey, Broadway is going to be uh the new facade. there's going to be the Broadway 2.0. We're going to make it super attractive. And I said, "Okay, a dispensary can do that because cannabis, a product that sells itself. If you
package it the right way, if you market it the right way, it's going to start attracting local crowds, the East Boston folks, the River folks, and River, they banned it. So, we're getting a lot of people from River. We're getting a lot of people from Everett. So, these people are trickling in. And their behavior when they're buying cannabis is that's
not the final destination. Usually, if they want to go get rolling paper or lighters or Gatorade or or something else after that, they're going to the convenience store next shop. Oh, they got the munchies, too. I'm gonna go to Kushala. I'm gonna go uh I'm going to go to uh get a mocha or go get something
like that. Right. So, we have created this epicenter. We're still a business that's maturing, but we need this help from y'all. That's why we are labeling this as a hardship request, not a precedence of what Harbor House has had before. They're in a different location.
We're in a more vulnerable situation and we're asking for y'all help. You guys have done a great job over the past few years of making Chelsea a more bis business friendly environment and we welcome that. And there's a couple things that I want to continue to work with you guys on. There's a a few campaigns, community loyalty programs
that we're doing with 24 other businesses in Chelsea right now. I've gotten about 50 people to sign up, but we do believe that when that takes off, that could be a new thing that we implement citywide. So, just know that you're dealing with entrepreneurs who have taken the risk. We love the
community. Y'all know me. I've served on the board of health. I've done things for the Chelsea High School. Um, I was instrumental in even increasing the licenses from four to six. And we just want to um basically have the support
from you guys to just help us with this hard time that we're currently facing. That's pretty much it. Other thing that uh I forgot to mention that I wanted to add and it's very very important and that is community support. So we've had people asking us to extend those those are as I mentioned the use case where
people knock on our doors. So last week we just put a paper saying hey if you guys would like us to extend sign it they got we're going to go to the meeting with you. We said no no don't go to the meeting. We we'll be there until 3:00 a.m. if all of you speak. So we got some signatures in a week over 300
signatures. We brought them here. Chelsea residents uh on the petition uh we've got community support from businesses because they're they're considering that as an anchor and they will get more business. So and with respect to 11 to 12 uh:00 um yes uh Harbor House for
example wasn't granted 11:00 but they're also not next to Tobin Bridge. They're not in downtown. Um and you mentioned uh liquor stores are not past 11:00, but nobody buys the these products uh and through criminal activity on the
streets, right? Alcohol, everybody buys them in the stores. We priced our products in such a way to get rid of people dealing on the streets. So the later we're open, if until 12:00, the more people we're going to get off the streets because our products are
literally cheaper than the streets. That's how we do it. We we work on a really really tight margin. That's how we can do it by and that that helps the community, but we also need to recoup by increasing the hours because we've cut so much uh in in in margin. Uh fellow commissioners, questions to
start things off. Um I do like your guys' vision. You know, I always when you came long time ago of the business plan was amazing. Definitely your integrity of your business as well and the effort for the community as well too. I'm not a big fan
of the late hours. I'll I'll be honest. I was never a fan of all the liquor stores we have in Chelsea, especially that we're a small city and the amount of dispensaries that we have. That being said, you know, you guys are in downtown, so you have a big responsibility. You know, you're amongst
residents. There's a school district nearby. Um you're you're surrounded by other businesses. You have easy access because you are bringing people from Boston. You're right next to Tobin. So, where I'm glad that maybe you want to have early morning hours, I don't see
you guys getting the midnight. I'll be honest. You know, I'm not a big fan for the late hours. What could you do to convince me otherwise because you mentioned Harbor Cove and they're different. I Their location is actually not not so many Yeah, they're not Harbor
House. Yeah. Oops. Sorry, I said the wrong thing. Yeah, I've done that before, too. Yeah, but they're they're in a truck route, you know. So for me I you know they still get people to go there and and they're not surrounded the the same location as you guys are in downtown
area. So you know the comparison is completely different. You guys are surrounded more by residents. You have a bigger responsibility for safety. So I don't know. I just not a big fan with the late hours especially in that downtown area.
So So what's your biggest concern though? Yeah. just the security the safety of the community. Okay. But but the the the key point is what I mentioned is we we're making it more secure. We have licensed security company on site monitoring the cameras. We have close to
70 cameras at all times while we're there. You have a a brightly lit up store and it's not like a dead street. All of a sudden it's it's a street that's that's actually being uh uh more secure, monitored and surveiled. And another reason for that is what we see
also we see a huge uh rush of cars closer to 9 because they know we're closing and it creates a a big uh traffic problem. I don't know if uh you guys have noticed that but we certainly noticed um they just rush in and there's there's there's just this rush after
before 9:00. If you spread it longer then you can avoid that rush. But we're actually the point is that we're actually making it more secure because we have security presence and we have there's not not an incident since we opened because we're actually more secure. There's actually people that
cleared up who who would go on the corners and all that stuff. They're not there anymore. And you've seen this in the the last six only the six weeks that you have opened. Okay. Yes. Yeah. The the vibrancy makes it harder for somebody who wants to do something sketch to say, "All right, Broadway is
typically dead at 10. let me go do what I need to do there. By us having that frequent activity, that allows more people to be around there, which makes it a less uh obscure place to certainly do. It's it's actually it's actually the opposite. We we feel that it's more
secure. It's more secure. Kids are sleeping at that time. The place is lit up and you have a licensed security company on site monitoring these cameras all the time. and that license the security company that we use majority of their clients are in Brockton and Fall River. We know
Brockton and Fall River are more dangerous than Chelsea right now. So, u the people that we do use, they're they're pretty legit. So, comments from other commissioners before I open it up to Chief. What took you so long to open? I mean,
we saw you I mean, it was a couple years ago and you I didn't know you've only been open six weeks. Yeah. Yeah, business is a cra it's crazy. You know, whatever you thought you were going to do in one year, it might take you three years. It's going to cost you double, triple sometimes.
So, it was just going through that entire motion. You guys have seen that uh meme where it says point A to point B, a straight line. But what really happened was this. That's kind of what happened there. But, you know, God is good and we made it happen.
just to point point out that they were opened before they got a license from us. Okay. I don't know if it was a week or two, but they were I'll clarify that. So, I stepped into this deal uh more than half a year ago and I invested a
lot of money. I bought out an a partner that all I had that couldn't deliver that all I said from point A to point B went like that. So I bought out uh uh bought him out, bought a large share of the company and I said I'm going to run
it. So I come in to run it and everything worked out meaning my attorney everybody gave us a green light. What I didn't know because I'm running the the place and I wasn't there before is that Ola had some kind of a uh postpone uh you had the license that was
uh postponed or something. It it had nothing to do with that. Being honest with you guys, I just feel like on I've told this to Naomi before. You guys got to do a better job of dotting the eyes and crossing the tees and really explain to us when we're coming
in to do I'm just being honest with you, Naomi. Like on the paper, it's very confusing when it it says uh license uh period is uh September to pay $5,000. And someone somebody can interpret as that, oh, I have till September to pay
that. someone can easily interpret as that because think about it this way. If I have to pay $5,000 now and I have to pay $5,000 in September, that's $10,000 that is I have to pay in an annual window. It was told to you that if you open Excuse me. It was not.
Please let her speak. It was told to you that if you open before September, you have to pay the whole $5,000 license fee. Come se before September, you have to pay for the new year. You
decided to open up before you even got the license. That's where she's not done and we're not getting into an argument here. So, please let her finish. Let me take it over. So, you opened without getting the license from us just because you got the
CCC license. It was told to you once you get the provisional CCC license, you had to come to the city and get our license. Where was the disconnect? I don't know, but it was sold. So, so from my perspective, I'll I'll
I'll I'll continue what I was saying. So, I'm operating the place. I step out and then I have employees calling me saying there's police and they're shutting us down. There's a woman with the police and they're shutting us down. I said, I don't know why the attorney, everybody signed off. So, from my perspective, then I sign find out that
there was an issue with license that I wasn't even aware of previously. Um and so immediately we run to city hall. We say, "We're going to issue the $5,000. Please don't shut us down. We just opened the business. It's It's bad for
us. We didn't do anything bad." Um and uh I emailed the mayor and everybody that I could and next day they were able to resolve it. They took our uh um uh bank check. We went we ran to the bank.
And honestly, I we apologize for for for not following. We want to be compliant and always be uh in compliance. Um I hope we would had some kind of a notification then I would be aware and we would have done that without getting shut down and show and having police uh
presence. But again we always want to be in compliance and we will be I'm on top of it. That is a situation that was happened prior to when I acquired the share of the company and I wasn't aware of that and that's behind us but it has
nothing to do with being open at 12:00. I don't know why it was even brought up now. Well, it honestly everything has to do with what we approve for ours because any anything that happens with a license plays a decision in our decisions.
Sure. Because if you you have to look at it this way. Now let's forget about how or why it happened for a moment. Uh but if if a lency is not compliant and they open without a license, how do we know
they're going to be compliant and follow the other rules? So for that reason, it matters. It matters on if we're going to grant extended hours. It matters on um anything that we're going to grant. It matters if a disciplinary matter comes
before us. We're going to take all of these things that have happened in the leadup into consideration because we have to. We wouldn't be doing our due diligence if we didn't listen to everything that happens. Whether we're hearing it from our our licensing department, we're hearing it from our
police department. All of these things we have to consider as part of what we're doing. Um because all of that adds up. Now, can there be um kind of confusion as to how things work?
Sure. Um I will tell you that I I know when all of the licenses were being given out, um there was all talk about provision and this goes for all the cannabis licenses. uh there was talk among for every single one of them about
the provisional licenses that come from the CCC and then the licenses that come from the city as two different licenses. So that has been discussed from day one. Now, um, obviously I was not present for any sort
of conversations that may have taken place between the city and any lency regarding the timing for when you make a payment. But as somebody who has had a license not in
this city but in other cities um I I know and not on cannabis front, I've done it on the liquor side. I know that if I get a license at any point during a given year, you have to pay for the full rate. They don't do pr-rated
licenses. They should, but they don't. And this is this is normal. It's it's not a Chelsea thing. It's it's a pretty standard thing. It's not a prrated license. So, if you excuse me, if you open off cycle, you end up having to pay more money. Um now if that wasn't
communicated in a way that made it very clear um then obviously that that is unfortunate but it is I believe listed in the paperwork um what the the timing is of the
license. So it would show that that license is only good until that next renewal cycle. Um so even if the conversation wasn't necessary necessarily clear it is in the paperwork
of the licenses. Um so it is as much a responsibility of a license ee to read that paperwork and understand the terms of those licenses. Um because I it's one of those things doing the liquor. It's I
always know that it's all due by November 30th of every single year and cannabis is on a slightly different schedule. Uh so it's one of those things that you end up and you just have to mess up once and then it should never happen again
because then you know that program, you know that schedule. Um, but it is just as much a responsibility of the lency to make sure that you're reading that paperwork because it the paperwork does state the the dates for a license. Um, so again, not a part of any
conversations that were held between either one. Um, we we certainly know on our city front that we can sometimes do a better job with communicating certain things, but I can't speak to this particular conversation. Um, but I do know that the paperwork itself states
the timeline. So, regardless of a conversation, it is in the papers. Yeah, it was a lesson that was learned. You know, Naomi and I, we had a chat about it also with Cheryl. It's something that definitely won't happen again. We're on top of it. So, as far as
any concerns about that being precedent of us not following, not anything like that. It was just a mis misunderstanding of what the process is. Then once we understand, we recalibrate, we fix it, and then we're in alignment again. So that's that. And as I mentioned, we met with Cheryl,
we addressed it immediately. We brought the check immediately. Uh and I spoke with Cher Cheryl also. We we want to be a responsible uh part of this community. Uh I've started many businesses before. Uh compliance with SEC and all that
stuff. I I've never had any issues. So compliance is very big on my personal watch. Uh I'm a president of uh uh largest condo uh with about 70 7,000 people living there. Uh and I know what compliance means because we put this
forth and we uh enforce it. So very big on compliance. This was just something that I wasn't aware of when I stepped in and that was resolved immediately. That's not going to happen. Not not not an issue at all. So we apologize for that. Naomi, um, can you confirm if
everything has been cleared up and settled? Oh, they have their license. Okay. I I sent out the renewals. Yeah. Okay. Can we keep it moving? Uh, Chief,
uh, yes. Good evening. Um, I have grave concerns about going to midnight. U, I'm not sure. I think this has changed hands, but when they came before the board, they knew the location. Chelsea's a walking city. The construction is impacting everybody, but uh I believe the main part of the construction is going to be done at the
end of August. Then they're going to delay it for about a year. So um uh the problem is I think they sold my case. They seem to have some hiccups and the gentleman came over. We've had alarms going off where we us we've even we
usually find businesses and we didn't. We decided not to because it's a new business. Uh the idea it's going to make it safer is contrary to my 39 years in law enforcement, especially in that neighborhood that is the busiest intersection in the city with I think one of the highest accident rates. We
don't need people coming in. I'm going to uh use an analogy of a uh bar in another city. Last calls at 1:00 a.m. Chelsea's at 12. Everybody runs over there. Uh we're gonna have an influx of people trying to buy their product. We
have five total dispens uh businesses I believe that uh so you're going to have to change them all till midnight and I I just don't think there's a need. I do understand the uh impact of construction. It's impacted everybody uh going to the chamber meetings. Uh but it
was put there as a like Chelsea's a walking community. Everybody can walk. The MBTA bus I think three bus lines go by close enough. Uh but the thought of having people loitering in an area that we spent years to clean up, we've closed bars down to 11 o'clock because that
place is noted for people being robbed. It's easy prey. Sometimes you walk down the street and uh we've tried to clear that up and I think we've done a good job. Officer Mclofflin's walked that beat. I haven't walked it since the 80s, but she's walked it more recent. And um the other thought about marijuana,
people can grow their own marijuana. I was in charge of detective for 14 years. Marijuana arrests are down to zilch. Our issues, uh, heroin, uh, fentanyl, lace pills, and cocaine. Uh, that's our issues. Uh, marijuana, like I said, if
they want to go get it, they can get it prior. I have no issue with them opening at 8. The the early pop, no issue. But midnight, liquor stores, as you said, are not open after midnight. There's a reason, you know, and um, you can all say that it's still a drug. It's still a
drug that's not even uh like noticed by the United States government as being legal. I mean, it's a it's a substance that we we still have issues with. We the police are way behind on these. This bill came out before. We have no officers trained. Uh you have to be a drug detection officer to train to see
if someone's under the influence of marijuana or drugs. We have nobody. There's probably three in the state. Um I just think you have to put a slow role on this. Uh they've had a hiccup opening that we have a police report. We had multiple alarms go off. It seems like
let's like slow this pace down. Uh and we want them to survive. I do. But it's like everybody came during all these cannabis meetings knowing 9 to9 was the hours. I know uh the the establishment on Eastern A that's like a state highway, plenty of parking. There is
housing, but you have to go a block and a half up a side street. And we know doing the cleanups, they have their issues. we find the product uh as Officer Mlofflin sees too when we do the cleanups the the product is thrown out like up on Bellingham Street in the side streets. Um I just don't see a need for
it. Like there's there's no stud he's going to tell me that that intersection is going to be cleaner or safer or better. It's going to be more people, more traffic, and I'm not sure if anybody from the public lives above there or near there. It's it's just not anything that as a police department I
could say for at least right now. I have no problem. The 8:00 a.m. to me, the liquor store opens at 8:00 a.m. 100 ft down the street. Uh, but midnight to me is uh really a stretch, especially a business that's been only open a month and they didn't even open properly. Where the other four establishments, I I
haven't been here the whole time, but I believe they open properly without issues. And we have had no issues with any place. I can say that. We don't have calls like we do at liquor stores or bars. All our places seem to run smoothly. But 12 o'clock is a is really
like a stretch. 11 o'clock is a stretch for that neighborhood. At least let them build a good rapport and let see how they do. I we all want them to succeed. But this was sold when I was coming to licensing. It was going to be a walk-on walk-in business because people can walk is it's so congested Bellingham Square.
Thousands of people live in a couple of block area. That's their base clientele. We don't need people from re every Boston driving over at 11:30 disrupting the neighborhoods. Everybody talks about pollution, idling their cars. To me, it just uh it makes it an enforcement dilemma for the police department.
You referenced a police report. Um was that that's the one you all have been speaking of about I think Naomi went with two officers to uh shut them down because of I just wanted to make sure there wasn't and the other ones are just and he did speak that they have uh rectified their their alarms.
Yeah. So you you have spoken on the issue which I'm happy with that you guys cleared it up. Perfect. So I I just could I add something that to the public? I would like to have the people that are here from the public speak if you don't mind. Could I just do one addition and and
public speak after all the comments? Alex I have it. Yeah. Uh if you're just going to be repeating the same thing I'd like to keep the meeting going. No no that's it. Just very very simple, very quick from the last meeting, the transcript uh uh from the meeting uh uh
uh with Harbor House uh extended hours to 11:00. Chelsea Police Sergeant Star Chung said the department didn't have any concerns with the extended hours of operations and I quote it would align with the liquor stores uh with 11:00
closings. Chunk Chunk said yes. Just one thing I want to and we've already referenced that but the concern is the area which is what our chief is referencing. If you could please step up and state your name. Thank you for coming. My name is Julie Dearo and we're a
property owner up and down Broadway. So I recognize this is kind of an issue because you have been infected uh affected by the construction. All of Broadway has been and I understand that. But what I think that for me um that is
a residential area. There's a lot of residents above those buildings and that's how that's the city has been framed. However, these other four dispensaries that you mentioned that have the late hours. So it's rise and harbor, they're in industrial areas. So
it's you're basically in an industrial area. There's very little if any residential and I think that's what concerns me about staying out till midnight. I can understand dropping the hours to 8:00 a.m. in the morning if you're trying to capture that foot traffic, somebody's trying to get on the
bus, they're going to work, whatever it may be. But I think the midnight is going to be a little too much for everybody to handle even though you have so many safeguards in place. You just have to be mindful of the residents in the area and these other places, there's
no residency around there. And I think that should weigh into all of this. Um, my only other concern is I do I know that Harbor is open till 11. Um, I think that 11 would be pushing it. I don't know how this board feels about
precedence that's already been set because you have one that's open at 11. As the chief said, if you do it for one, you got to do it for everybody. Um, well, I'm not so sure on that part of it, but it is something that could be an
issue later on down the line. So, you know, want you to succeed, want you to capture the revenue you can. 8:00 is fine, but I think the midnight is really pushing it. Um, and once again, this is more about it being a residential area,
too. Um, you're not lacking, you don't have that industrial control area around it. That's it. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, Ola. So, yeah. Um, just to go back to what
captain said and to you you what was your name? Sorry. Sorry. What was your name? Yeah, he he's chief, not captain. All right. Chief. Sorry about that. Sorry. No worries. Thank you. Sorry. I don't know like the rankings of the And you What was your name? Julie. Nice to meet you, Julie. So, I
definitely understand that. You know, we're asking for a lot, you know, especially with some of the hiccups that we've had already. Uh, but my challenge to you guys is again, we all have or the people who really care about Chelsea, we all have this vision of what Broadway
could be. Like, I've read it. I remember when Tom Anderson used to talk about it. We've brought these super expensive uh architects of cities and city planning to come and show us what Broadway could look like. We're two and a half miles away from Hay Market. Why can't we be
like uh Newberry Street? Why why can't why can't we be like that next attraction like these other places in other parts of Boston? And Chelsea has the potential to do that. And that's why we fought so hard for that location because cannabis, it's unfortunate that
it has to be cannabis. It couldn't be like this amazing restaurant, but cannabis, if it's run right and done right, it can't it can't be the epicenter to bring that sort of vibrancy to the community. And that's just the last thing that I want to say about that because I I get it the safety and all
that. We are making it safer with what we have, but just taking that risk on entrepreneurs like ourselves who have put a lot into it. Just let us spice it up. Let us spice it up for y'all. Let's spice it up for y'all a little bit. You know, I do just want to um Did we have anybody
else from the public that wanted Okay, just just checking. Um, and if I could just add one more one more thing. Honestly, if you're if you're saying the same thing, we don't have to keep repeating it. No, no, I didn't. But, but it is with
respect to because we have to kind of respond to what was said. So, I think it's a it's not so much a residential area. It's a downtown. There's a lot I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I do have to stop you there. It is a residential area. It is the downtown of our city. There are residences above all of those buildings.
Above all of those businesses. Yes. But it is that makes it residential. So come nighttime, you have people that live there and that is their homes. And just as we've done with many of our liquor licenses when they've
asked for certain extensions of late hours and entertainment in residential areas, we don't always allow it because we're worried about those noise factors. Gotcha. Okay. So, I'll just finish with one thing uh for you to before you uh vote. Uh that we have uh um laundromat
that works right across from us until 11:00. 7-Eleven works 24 hours. I'm sure people loiter there as well. So, and and liquor stores work at 11 until 11:00 p.m. So, we would like you to consider all these things when you uh make your
vote. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate that. Um, fellow commissioners, hearing all of that, I I also agree I don't really have an issue on the early side of things um with people being able to um purchase
prior to heading into work. Um I do worry about the increase of added traffic to that area late at night and bringing in additional people from outside communities. as as chief stated um because there aren't other cannabis
shops in our general area that are open until midnight. Um if I recall when we were going through that uh correct until 10 and 11 and but I mean even going out into surrounding communities there's no one
in our touching cities. East Boston I believe is 9. I know you have to go like to downtown where it goes to 11 o'clock like Boilston Street. I'm not sure near Boston Garden if that stays open late but there's nobody till midnight. No. No. And uh Everett doesn't have it doesn't have it. So we uh we would be
the focal point of thousands of people like the closest spot would be this location. Okay. Um, so I I can say that I wouldn't be comfortable with midnight for sure, uh, being the latest place open that anybody could go in in such a busy area
of our city. Um, so then it it goes to um, do we do we look at what we've done for some of the others? And I mean, if some are 10 and some are 11, I I'm I'm more inclined to grant the 10 for the
time being with it being residential. Um, what time are the liquor stores around there? Open till till 11. They're definitely open till 11. Yeah, till 11. Definitely. I do think it would be good for downtown. Another store open late night
kind of It does bring up if you can provide security. Do security ever come out of the building? The security guards ever come? Can you please can you please step up to the microphone? Uh security doesn't come out from the building, but uh we have
close to 70 cameras that they constantly monitor. If you guys uh would like uh we could have them uh patrol time to time, but they monitor it. We have the whole area surrounded. My issue is not with their security. I'm sure it's fine. But he just said it's indoors. It would hap it's what happens a block away. What happens when they
I'm more concerned about what happens out front if if it's out front out front. They they are responsible as you know for they're out front for loitering and they their security should say like move along. Um but again what happens at the sale at 5 minutes at 12 and what
happens beyond their property line is our responsibility and I'm just just all my experience I'm just telling you it's been an issue on that street forever. Uh and we've done a I think midnight's a non-starter. Like I don't think we're talking about that.
No, I I the 10 p.m. is not even 10 wouldn't be so far-fetched, but 12 or 11 to me is uh the stores. The stores have different mandates by state law. They have to open late. They can't open on holidays. So there's there's a lot there's a lot of similarities, but
there's a lot of differences. Um like I said, I have no problem with the 8 a.m. I think the property but like keeping it I think they need to earn all of our trust that they can the business. The only other thing that I would No, no, we're we're having this conversation right now, please.
Uh, so the other um the the other thing that I want to keep in mind as we're having this debate about the hours because I don't really care about an earlier time, but I believe it was brought up when some of
the prior ones were looking for earlier times. Um, and I don't know which commissioners it was, but I believe there was concern about was it school? It was it was worried about that was at 7:00. I think they wanted 7 a.m. Well, they're 500 feet away from school. The law mandates it. They're not they're
not closing in school. Everyone should be in school by 8. I'm not concerned about that. Yeah, I think it was 7. I think they wanted it early. They wanted seven. There was no way. And it was in a school there. And it was in a I mean, this is near a school, too. But that that other one that was Glattuses, and that was like right by the school.
Yeah. So I think the yeah I don't care about the 80. I think the question is 10 or 11 and like what's my only concern is that where the other establishments had some time before they came up to us to extend their hours. Yeah. I would like to see more history
of how they managed their business um before granting um you know later hours. Um, but I do I I I can hear their passion and their vision and I definitely want to support that and I do have complete faith that you're going to
have a secure location. I'm more worried about the traffic is going to bring to the downtown area. We're we're managing it very well. Why why even introduce something new? So, I would agree for a 10m because of one of the comments that
someone is coming in at 901 looking to purchase a product. Extending it to one more hour would definitely will help and then maybe with much history we could review that in a year or six months, whatever the time. So, your thought is that the other ones that we've granted those extensions had
already been in operation for a year plus prior to it was just Harbor and they're they're in the middle. I think Riseze also had an extension on their hours. Well, it's it's the the longevity and also um the the area. So, those are the two things that I'm
considering uh with the the other businesses versus um with this business. Understandable, Mike. I I agree. We we work our way up to it, but but a later hour, I don't think it's And it's a retail business zone.
Rise is nine. It's not 10. I thought it was 9. It's nine on the weekends. I feel like rise. It's 10 p.m. Friday, Saturday. That's it. So, so they did get the later for Fridays and Saturdays. So, what we're giving them at 10 normal
is you know that's not what we give to everybody and Harbor House is I mean I think that's a very different situation for 11. But I I think you do bring up a good point, Alex, that those other locations had also been in operation.
Yeah. and shown that we didn't really have any issues for an extended period of time prior to granting the later hours. And we've been in operation for six weeks. Yes. Six weeks.
Six weeks. Okay. So that's I mean Okay. I'm sorry. Is it 6 weeks with or without the license? Is it including the No, without the license. It was You came on the third day of us opening. So, it was six weeks. So, we fixed that on the third day and
ever since then it's been clean. So, May 24th was when we opened. Okay. So, yeah, roughly about six, seven weeks. Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Um, so my suggestion would be 8 to 10. Okay. And that would be seven days a week. So
not any limit to a weekend. Yeah. Chief, thoughts on that? My only concern you said rise is just weekends only. 8 to 10. They close at 9:00 except for Friday and Saturdays. I wouldn't again rise is on a road with
not a house within a quarter of a mile. I don't mind if you decide giving them a weekends till 10, but I just don't know why because again like rise uh harbor total different uh places. You're going to have uh western front come in next
time and they're you know they have no issues there but people do complain. I would just if you're going to do it mirror what you did for eyes weekends till 10:00 but Sunday through Thursday or whatever it's 8 8 to 9.
I I wouldn't grant anything more from a business that hasn't proven themselves for a business that you did only give weekends till 10 that have been like event free for over two years. That's that's just my uh I mean I don't have a voting right and that's just my opinion. That's all. Let me say something very
quick. Please make it quick because this is us trying to help. There's liquor stores make a decision. Yeah, very quick. There's liquor stores right next to us that are open until we've already granted you just granted a restaurant also that is new and hasn't proven itself a license to stay open
until 1:00. These are just one some comment. You're not really ingratiating yourself to us tonight. You're not really ingratiating yourself, sir, tonight. just want to say some feedback. I would take the recommendation of the
police chief on the weekends. Um just so that just again with the history of the business um they took the time to come here to plead their cases. I agree to 8 am. I do appreciate um the chief making that
suggestion and I would take that under adisement for this um change of hours a Friday, Saturday to 10 p.m. and then the rest to 9:00 p.m. And then you're thinking 8:00 a.m. every day. 8 a.m. every day. So So um it will give them a chance.
So if I have this correct, what you're proposing would be 8:00 a.m. to 900 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Sunday. I'm sorry. Sunday through Thursday and then Fridays and Saturdays 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Correct. That would be my proposal.
I don't have an issue with 10 p.m. every day, but just to point out that the liquor stores don't open until 10:00 a.m. on Sundays. Okay. Thanks. All right. I don't have an issue with 10 a.m. 10 p.m. every day either. Yeah. Okay. It's a downtown area.
Everything should be open at that hour. I do. We remember if when rise came before us, they were only asking for the I think they only Saturday. They didn't ask anymore. But I think if I recall, I think they asked for 8:00,
not 7. That was um VA, which is Glattus. When they came before us, they wanted 8:00 in the morning. and somebody I don't know which commissioner said wasn't me. Uh school kids be diverted but that's in Prattville. There's nothing out there.
Vered. That's the Prattville one. It never even opened. Yeah. It never opened. They did come to us but they didn't. Right. But it wasn't V. It was Haba House. They won at 8:00 in the morning. Oh, you're saying it wasn't Verde, right? You're saying it was Haba House.
Oh, gotcha. I thought you were saying it was And they were given 9:00. They stayed at 9 instead of 8 because of the school kids. No. No. Not for the Harbor House. Not for Harbor House. I No. It was the
one that was near the school. I remember talking with and agreed to 8 a.m. But he was not a big fan about the nighttime one. But it was because it was wherever we were talking about was near the school. Harbor House is not near anything. That wouldn't have been an issue with the school kids unless the school bus
decided to stop there. Yeah, I'll go back on the minutes. I promise. I know. Thank you. Thank you. So, are we looking to do 10 p.m. every night or just 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays? I am worried about the longevity of the
business. So I would I would still suggest a weekend. If they had a a longer history and you know uh a sense of the business at after 6 months I would feel more convincing but at this point no
to give them 10 p.m. every night. So right now you're not convinced to give 10 p.m. every night. She says Friday Saturday pitch and Mike and I are we don't have a issue with I don't have an issue with that. every night for at 10. I mean, midnight definitely not. 11 definitely not, but I
don't think an hour difference matters. So, who wants to make a motion? You're the tiebreaker. Uh, I I question if I look at it this way. If we if RISE was only given the Fridays and Saturdays, um
it may not be a bad place to start. Um this would be the first one if we grant them an 8 a.m. It would be the first one that we've granted an 8 a.m. open. So with that and it being a fairly new
business, I might be inclined to kind of align with what Alex is saying and for the time being look at it being an 8 a.m. start and then 10 p.m. only on Fridays and Saturdays and then they can revisit it
in six months if things are going well come back before us and ask for an extension on the rest of the days. And Harbor House is, by the way, 900 PM Sunday through Wednesday. It's only 11 pm Thursday. It's Thursday, Friday,
Saturday. Just FYI. Yeah. So, it seems consistent with other dispensaries that on the weekends they're making it longer. So, we could do Thursday, Friday, but that's what they're asking for, not what we grant. That's we granted it because they asked for it. They didn't ask for it every day. Yeah. I think in consistency with all
the other and so even if if we wanted to say Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10 p.m. and stayed 9:00 p.m. on the other days, I think that that I would agree to that. But we could do if you wanted extended Thursday, Friday,
Saturday. I also liked your idea that in six months time if they wanted to come back again and then we can we can look at how business has been going and and look at do we go with additional hours based upon how things have been going but
let's give it a chance to see how things are going. Um, particularly with the concerns from the police department, um, I'd like to en ensure that we're we're not adding to an already existing issue that
the police department has brought to our attention. Um, so I think kind of a a slow increase in this sort of a scenario when we we know u that our police department is concerned about um the traffic and everything in that area. Um, I would I
would be inclined to be a bit more cautious. Uh, given the feedback from the police, I would agree to Thursday, Friday, Saturday, but still limit to 10 p.m. and then 8 to 9 Sunday to Wednesday. Yeah,
Mike. Okay. Okay. So based upon that, um does someone want to make a motion to approve a change in hours for the canvas license uh for House of Herus LLC DBA Chelsea
Bud at 267 Broadway to Sunday through Wednesday 8:00 a.m. to 900 p.m. and Thursday, Friday, Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 10 p.m.
I will make the motion for those hours. Somebody want to second? Second. All in favor? I I Thank you very much. And and as we stated, we we want the business to be successful. Um so let's see how those
adjusted hours go for the next six months. And then if in six months things are going well and you want to come back before us and ask for another revision to those hours, you're you're certainly welcome to do so. And hopefully things have gone great and everybody from your
neighbors to our police department um any of their concerns are are kind of negated. Um but we we want to make sure that you're successful and that it doesn't become an issue. So, I think we're we're going to have to kind of baby step our way um to getting anything
too extensive rather than have you hit the ground way too fast and and have it flop because we really just don't want that to happen for you guys. We want you to be successful. We we appreciate you uh hearing us today. We appreciate all your comments and we want to say that we want to be
and we will be a responsible member of this fine community and we will do uh whatever it takes to to to to make you all uh proud and stay compliant. We appreciate it very much. Thanks a lot. Thanks. Have a good night. Thanks. Appreciate y'all. Thank you once again.
Thank you. Um, other business, Miss Naomi, first let me just tell you that I told you you jinxed it. Um, other business. Um, there is a mandatory
meeting, Chief. Um, if you want to talk about that meeting that has been scheduled. Yes, we've done this in the past with all uh the uh I'm not sure Naomi is this off- premise and on premise all of them or is it just is it both to have to come to this man? Both.
All okay, perfect. Yeah, that we do at the ABCC and it uh sets the tone. We did it a couple years ago. Officer Mcofflin was there uh when uh Tom Marcino was the city manager. We just uh think it's time again. We've had a lot of management change. Uh we're going to have it at a
hotel. uh the ABCC will be the pretty much the main act. We will do a small presentation if you're available or one of the commissioners will be would be great for the for you to be there to go over our local licensing rules, but it's mostly a pep talk by the ABCC to tell
them. We all sat at their meeting and uh and we have we have the schedule, the ABCC's on board. I think it's good for all the businesses. Perfect. Thank you. I I do have that in my calendar so I do plan on being there. I did skip over and I needed to reference it. Uh the fourth item on our
agenda this evening was a disciplinary public hearing um for um revoking, suspending or modifying the all alcohol beverage on premise license and the amusement and entertainment license as to the non-compliance of the rules and
regulations um for uh Takaria Takaria Eucalyptto Corporation DBA Las Vegas restaurant at 388 Broadway Chelsea Mass. um their lawyer did request a continuance which we granted. So they will be uh coming before us at our next
meeting. Um the other item that we were going to discuss tonight, but it will get pushed to next month's meeting given the length of time tonight's meeting has taken. Um is um at our special meeting
on June 23rd, we started the process of building a progressive disciplinary plan um that um will pertain to all of the lences. Um so um we have our first drafts that we are working on for that.
Um and given how late today's meeting has gone um we won't get into that this evening. Um but if I can ask all of my fellow commissioners to make sure um that at our next meeting um you have all of your notes as to what we want to do
um so we can try to have hopefully some sort of a final draft um by the end of that meeting. Um I think that would be helpful um not only for us as a commission but also for all of the lences.
Um is there any other business before I close the meeting? No. Lovely. Our next meeting is Nope. I already did that. You weren't here. Um our next meeting is scheduled for
August 14th, 2025. Meeting adjourned.