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Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette Logo Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette

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Mayor and others protest beer sales at Shore Spirits

(May 25, 2017) The Board of License Commissioners took the unusual step last week of leaving an issue unresolved and suspending proceedings until the three board members could review the presented evidence.
License Commissioners’ attorney Tom Coates said it was a rare, but not unprecedented occurrence, and that it’s been at least a decade since the last time the board took such action.
Coates said the board would render its final decision within two weeks, and that the parties and press would be notified before the announcement.
At issue is the sale of the former Worcester County Shore Spirits in Pocomoke City, which was the highest bidder for the store and its contents as announced during the county commissioners’ meeting at the end of April. Kalpesh Patel, of Berlin, bid $1.175 million for the store and its inventory.
Patel operated the Shop Kwik in Berlin from 1994 to 2011, and since then has opened the Kwik Liquor in Millsboro, Delaware.   
As a condition of the sale, the county was to support Patel’s application for a Class A Beer/Wine/Liquor license, and Patel’s application needed to be approved. If either condition failed, Patel could walk away from the deal.
The first part went off as expected, with Assistant County Administrator Kelly Shannahan testifying in support of the application. The next condition proved more troublesome.
The Shore Spirits shop, at the time of its closing, only sold wine and liquor — not beer, and another shop in the same commercial block across from Pocomoke’s Wal-Mart, Newtown Market, already sells beer and wine. The Newtown Market opened after the Shore Spirits county store did and was purchased by the current owner in 2015.
The current owner of Newtown Market is the sister of the third-highest bidder for the Shore Spirits store, and is leading the charge against the change in liquor licenses for the new owner of the former county store.
Joining them were the mayor of Pocomoke City, Bruce Morrison, who said the public need is filled by the existing businesses within the shopping center, and one or the other business is likely to fail by duplicating services.
Neighboring business owners also protested an approval of the application as it stood, and said the town’s liquor needs could be satisfied by Don’s Seafood, which is only 2.2 miles away from the disputed location.
After much discussion and deliberation the attorney for Newtown Market, Hugh Cropper, introduced a transcript of a 2014 session of the BLC into evidence. Two members of the board, Charles Nichols and Billy Esham, were also present at those proceedings, while the third, Marty Pusey, only joined last year. The BLC is appointed by the governor, and serves four-year terms.
Coates estimated the board members have “a good hour” of reading in the transcript, and then further deliberations will be needed before a decision is reached.