Next year, these a capella ladies will likely be able to buy alcoholic drinks at Hamden Fest ...
... but other town events, like this dance for disabled children, will probably still not include liquor.
It’s June 11, 2022. You’re getting ready for a day of purchasing homemade postcards, sampling the products of local potrepreneurs, and either encountering or evading politicians campaigning at Town Center Park during the annual Hamden Fest.
How much would buying an ice cold Corona on-scene contribute to the experience?
This year’s attendees of Hamden Fest may get to find out for themselves, thanks to a proposed amendment put forward by Hamden’s mayor to allow for the sale and distribution of alcohol at town celebrations on a case-by-case review basis.
The Legislative Council’s Recreation Committee Monday night voted unanimously to support that idea.
If the full council approves the plan, then a $150 revocable town permit could be granted to third parties hoping to sell alcoholic beverages at public events.
The mayor and chief of police, or their chosen designees, would be required to sign off on the application, which would describe the specific place, time and date during which alcohol sales could be considered permissible.
The amendment does not extend to the Board of Education or any of its facilities. In other words, alcohol will still not be allowed anywhere on school grounds.
Mayor Garrett told the Independent that “this ordinance change will allow us to highlight our local breweries and attract other vendors to our town events. This will add interest to our events and attract more visitors from across the region. Ultimately, this will enhance our image and is one part of our plan to make Hamden a fun place to live, work and open a business.”
One member of the public, Elaine Dove, showed up to Monday evening’s meeting with questions regarding the possible change to Hamden’s current regulations, which bar alcoholic beverages from every park and facility of the Department of Parks and Recreation.
“I want to know what safeguards do we need to have … which other towns allow this … what liability would the town incur if someone became drunk and drove over,” she said. “I don’t know, anybody?”
“I’m very concerned about the town allowing this without considering the liability issues,” Dove concluded.
“There’s never no risk for anything that we do,” mayoral Chief of Staff Sean Grace responded. “Liability would primarily lie with the vendors, because it would be tied to their liquor license.”
New Haven, Milford and Waterbury, among other towns, already allow for the sale of alcohol, the administration reported. “It’s fairly common, I believe,” Grace added.
“We will make sure that we are doing everything we can to limit the town’s liability,” he stated. “Because this is a brand new process, it’s something that would develop as it goes along. But of course the responsibility will always fall upon the mayor.”
For this year’s early summer celebrations, the first of which will be Hamden Fest, Grace said that multiple individuals, such as the town’s risk management team and town attorney, will be called in to determine whether serving alcohol would be appropriate. “There’s gonna be an awful lot of eyes on it to make sure it goes off without a hitch,” he promised.
“As time goes on,” he clarified, the town will develop “administrative policies” to create a systematic routine for approving liquor permits.
Plus, the cost of the liquor permit could “help to fray some of the costs of activities” taking place on town property, he said.
Cheers! Council committee members share in a brief moment of unity as they unanimously approve permitting liquor at town events.
Some Council members were surprised alcohol is not already allowed on the premises.
“I could’ve sworn I’ve bought alcohol in Town Center Park before … Am I misremembering?” Ted Stevens asked.
“Maybe someone was selling it, but it wasn’t quote ‘permitted,’” Town Attorney Sue Gruen replied.
“How do we control patrons bringing their own alcohol to events?” Councilwoman Paula Irvin asked.
“Residents do currently bring alcoholic beverages, and there’s not typically enforcement of any rule against that at this time,” Grace answered.
Councilwoman Sarah Gallagher imagined an event like the New Haven Road Race happening in Hamden. “The brewing company comes in and has beer there… That’s kind of what I’m picturing.”
“Yeah, exactly,” Grace replied.
Whether or not there will be funding for such summer programming is technically still up in the air as the council prepares to tighten up the mayor’s proposed fiscal year ‘23 budget during upcoming deliberations.
During that same meeting Monday, the full council — with the exception of Councilwoman Betty Wetmore, who abstained — agreed to table a request by Garrett to create two new job positions prior to the establishment of a new budget, one of which would have involved preparing summer programming.
Read more about that controversial proposal here. It includes the idea of expediting the funding and hiring an arts, culture, recreation and wellness director — a potentially cost-savings position designed to offer departmental oversight of arts and culture, parks and recreation, youth services, elderly services and community services. The concept was to give the town a head start on generating concepts for accessible summer programming all across Hamden — not just in Town Center Park.
“We haven’t had a dialogue about how we are reprioritizing spending money for summer programming,” Councilman Justin Farmer said. “I’m not in favor of austerity budgets, but I’m sure that people are going to want to figure out how much money we have to play with for summer programming.”
Instead of voting early on establishing the positions, the council will discuss how much money to allot to summer events and celebrations — as well as to the employees arranging them — on April 26, during its seventh of ten total meetings scheduled for combing through the mayor’s budget.
The New Haven Jazz Fest and other festivals on the Green used to allow beer or wine vendors along with food vendors at events. It would be nice to be able to buy a beer and hot dog and sit under the stars and listen to music or watch the fireworks on the Hamden Town Center Park.