Will Selectmen Shut Down Arlington Liquors?

ARLINGTON, MA — Near the end of February Arlington Police working with two teens made their way around town checking various establishments to see if they followed proper protocol and checked id before selling alcohol. Four establishments failed the Alcohol compliance check, Arlington Liquors on Summer Street was one of them.

At a Board of Selectman Meeting last month, the board started to vote to hand down a five-day suspension of the package store's liquor license. But because this is not the first time Arlington Liquors has faced violations, selectmen voted to revoke the liquor licence to the owner completely. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Arlington Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The liquor license is held by Arlington's Alexander Kushnirsky who vowed to appeal the decision and then at the selectmen meeting this week his lawyer, William Kelly of Considine & Furey asked the board to reconsider, citing a list of procedures the store was putting into place to prevent violations in the future. The board went to vote on it, but with one of the selectmen, not present (Selectman Kevin Greeley) the board landed right down the middle. The question of what to do with the liquor store has been postponed for another meeting, yet to be determined.

What happened?

On Feb. 28, two 17-year-olds were given a breath test, given money and told to go in, buy some beer and see if the employee checked their ids. It's standard practice for municipalities to carry out such regular compliance checks with teenagers working with local police. The two went into the store at 4:48 p.m. and came out two minutes later carrying a six-pack of Bud-light and a receipt and told the officer they were working with that they hadn't been checked, according to the report.

The officer went back in and asked the man behind the counter what happened. The man told the officer he thought he'd served them before and that's why he hadn't checked.

Why not just a slap on the wrist?

Arlington Liquors was the first establishment in town to get a liquor licence transfer in 2011 not long after the town voted to do away with its "dry" status in favor of allowing alcohol purchases.

Arlington resident Alexander Kushnirsky, who owns a liquor store in Medford and one in Somerville took over what was once Shanny Beer and Wine at 94 Summer Street.

Selectman Dan Dunn reminded Kushnirsky at the time that Arlington that liquor stores were still a "bit of an experiment in town."

"Frankly, I like being able to drink my beer," Dunn told Kushnirsky. “Don’t screw up our experiment, please.”

Then, in 2016 the store was handed a one-year probation after a 60 mg edible marijuana product was found on store property by Arlington police and the owner was found slumped in a chair and only revived after receiving a dose of Narcan, Patch reported at the time.

Selectmen at the time said they felt like they were going easy on the store, on account of Kushnirsky's testimony.

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Photo by Jenna Fisher/ Patch