Lisa Reisman Photo
Operations manager Brandi Hansen and manager Sam McGee awaiting order at Atticus Market.
Atticus Market, the new East Rock outpost downtown bookseller and café Atticus that which opened in the spring, has books. It has the groceries. It has pizza.
Now they want to add beer to the list. Neighbors turned up to show they love the store — but area package store owners had reservations about new competition.
A spirited debate about the beer request occurred Tuesday night at the regular Zoom-assisted meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Atticus/Chabaso CEO Charles Negaro Jr. was on hand to seek two approvals from BZA commissioners: a special exception to allow for this new use, selling the brewskis in a grocery store; and a variance, because the ordinance requires 1,500 feet of separation between stores with package permits.
After the hearing, the matter was referred to the City Plan Commission for a recommendation. Then the matter will return to the zoners for a vote.
Atticus, at 771 Orange St., is only 700 feet away, a matter of a few blocks, from the nearest competition.
The latter point was at the heart of the opposition to the proposal voiced by several owners of nearby package stores or their representatives during the public hearing.
However, first came a number of accolades from Atticus’s neighbors.
BZA Commissioner Sarah Locke said she was speaking as a neighbor in praise of the store for its culinary contributions. She praised Negaro’s presentation, which emphasized that food is a small profit-margin business while beer has large profit margins, so the addition would help maintain the new store’s viability.
Ben Trachten, a regular at the BZA proceedings as an attorney and a former commissioner, revealed that he gets his coffee regularly at Atticus. “They have the best bread, best croissant, and they will be a good neighbor. I urge you to approve.”
He was responding, in part, to Linden Street neighbor Gail Walter, who stated that “we fear beer will be consumed on the premises.”
Attorney Bernard Pellegrino, whose law firm is in the neighborhood, was representing Enoteca Cassanova, the package store at 717 Orange Str. within 700 feet of Atticus.
He called Atticus “a great store.”
But he added that “the applicant bears the burden [to prove hardship], especially when the distance is half that of the legal hardship (requirement. And I don’t think one exists.”
“The definition of hardship is that something is peculiar or unique to the property that would prevent them from complying,” he added, and none of that was presented. “They are just too close.”
“Our client is two blocks away, and there are two other liquor stores in the neighborhood that all meet the requirements. And the financial issues, as has been pointed out to you, are irrelevant to your determination. This densely populated neighborhood is served by four package store[s], and all have existed for many years … There’s an issue of equity here inherent in the regulatory scheme, and the applicant hasn’t met the burden, and all these factors should lead you to deny the application.”
That equity theme was sounded by Rita Patel, one of the owners of the Bottle Shop at 490 Orange St.
“I was very heartbroken when I found out Atticus Bakery is trying to apply for a liquor permit,” Patel said.
She said she is a shopper at Atticus and praised the neighborhood for the walkability/proximity of all the stores. “This will lead to a difficult future for us, and we are in the business for decades,” she said. “I feel the city should not approve this permit.”
Another neighbor, whose identity wasn’t clear from the Zoom proceedings, added a new minatory note toward the end of the discussion: “Although they are selling just the beer in the grocery store, we have seen it becomes like a package store. There is no regulation that controls that you can serve only certain numbers or kinds of beers. There may come a time when they sell less groceries than beer, and that makes it a package store like others on the street.”
“Good luck, Mr. Negaro,” said acting ZBA Chair Alexandra Daum. “We’ll see you back here in a month.”
Seems like the only hardship is the actual zoning code, which should be changed.