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City of Fall River Meetings

7.15.2020 Licensing Board

Wednesday, July 15, 2020Wed, Jul 15, 2020

The Fall River Licensing Board met on July 15, 2020, to address a series of license applications, show-cause violation hearings, and administrative matters. Early routine business included approving the withdrawal of a matter for Dave's Pizza, approving Caesar Seamus as the new manager for Stafford Road Liquors Inc. at 440 Stafford Road, and granting Class II auto licenses to Babor Auto Sales (relocating to 673 Bedford Street for 22 cars) and Export Exporter LLC (a wholesale auto office at 56 North Main Street).

The board then held show-cause hearings for multiple establishments. The Portuguese Cultural Center, represented by attorney Gregory Brilhante and owner Liberal Silva, faced violations for operating and having people consuming beer inside on Saturday, May 30, 2020, contrary to COVID-19 emergency shutdown orders. The board voted to impose a 14-day license suspension, to be served from August 3 to August 17, 2020, with an additional 16 days suspended for two years pending no further violations. The hearing for The Republican Club (1600 North Main Street) was tabled to August 19, 2020, to allow club president Bert Tavares to consult legal counsel and resolve discrepancies regarding their manager of record.

A contentious hearing regarding Hartwell Quick Stop (350 Rodman Street) followed, involving owner Bharat Patel, attorney John Mitchell, police officers, and adjacent property manager Teresa Potter of Tecumseh Mill Apartments. Police and neighbors raised severe quality-of-life and safety issues, including loitering, public drinking, trash, and drug use, while defense counsel argued that call logs disproportionately originated from surrounding businesses such as Walgreens. Due to disputed call logs and lack of advance review of recent police reports, the board tabled the hearing to August 19, 2020. Finally, the board voted to refer an Open Meeting Law complaint filed by Collin Dias regarding the June 26 meeting to Corporation Counsel.

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