By Carol Britton Meyer

The select board granted new Shipwreck’d owner Lillian Parker’s request for seasonal all-alcohol and entertainment licenses this week following a long discussion centering for the most part on the proposed liquor license.

The board considered at length the school committee’s earlier recommendation to the board, which is the licensing agent for the town, to restrict the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages when school is in session to “after-school hours,” starting at 3 p.m. on weekdays, due to the restaurant’s proximity to Hull High School. Parker’s request was for serving hours to begin at 8 a.m.

Before the board took a vote on Wednesday, Parker and her attorney stepped outside the meeting room to talk privately. When they returned, a proposal was made to amend the serving hours to 11 a.m. (from 8 a.m.) to 11 p.m. on weekdays; 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sunday.

At that point, select board member Brian McCarthy made a motion to issue the liquor license, with serving hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday; Friday 11 a.m. to midnight; and Saturday and Sunday hours as requested by Parker after consulting with her attorney. Member Jerry Taverna supported the motion; Chair Irwin Nesoff supported the school committee’s recommended 3 p.m. start time for serving alcohol when school is in session. Greg Grey and Jason McCann were not present.

With regard to the school committee weighing in on the request before it went before the board, such a review is required under state law when the location of the proposed liquor license is within a radius of 500 feet of a school. This includes a determination of whether serving alcohol within that distance could have a detrimental effect on the educational activities at the school.

Following a lengthy committee discussion on October 7, with Parker in attendance, the school committee voted to recommend restricting the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages when the school year is in session to begin no earlier than 3 p.m. on weekdays.

The committee did not recommend placing restrictions on the 8 a.m.-to-midnight hours on the weekends and was supportive of alcohol service beginning at 10 a.m. during the week when school is closed.

A parent of two Hull High School students spoke in favor of allowing Parker to start serving alcohol earlier than 3 p.m. on school days at the select board meeting, saying that Parker always puts “the children and safety first to ensure the safest environment possible.”

Under the entertainment license, Parker said there are plans for piped-in or recorded music inside and outside, with no live music or bands.

After the vote, Taverna told Parker, “All eyes will be on you, and we fully expect you will do as you say you will and have been doing.”

Nesoff responded, “I have no doubts,” and wished Parker, who also owns the SandBar, well in her new endeavor.

In other business at the meeting

The select board supported submission of a Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association municipal engagement initiative application by the affordable housing committee, requesting technical assistance with its education efforts related to the need for, and benefits of, affordable housing.

“For the past year, we’ve been trying to educate the town’s businesses and residents about what affordable housing is and isn’t and that the term ‘affordable housing’ does not mean public housing, but we as a committee can only do so much,” AHC Chair Cynthia Koebert told the board. “In the past year, there has been additional opposition to more housing development in town for various reasons. We look forward to working with the town leading up to the next annual town meeting, when we hope to have some proposals for getting affordable housing built in town. This [CHAPA] assistance would help us with that work.”

McCarthy praised the AHC for its continuing efforts.

“It feels like [the creation of affordable housing] is going to happen,” he said.

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