iBerkshires.com Columnist SectionSue Bush
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Mountain View Liquor License HearingBy Susan Bush
12:00AM / Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Clarksburg – An all-alcoholic beverage license held by the Mountain View Restaurant will come under scrutiny during a show-cause hearing scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Dec. 7 at Town Hall.
Town Administrator Michael Canales said on Nov. 30 that the hearing was scheduled due to continuing reports of problems at the restaurant.
The hearing does not involve the restaurant’s current entertainment license or an application to change the entertainment license to permit nude dancing.
“This has nothing to do with the entertainment license,†Canales said. “This is about the liquor license.â€
The public may attend the hearing, Canales said. Town police Chief Michael Williams is expected to present town Selectmen, who collectively serve as the town’s licensing board, with reports about alleged assaults and other incidents that have allegedly occurred at the restaurant. Restaurant owner Michael Milazzo will be permitted to respond to the reports, Canales said.
Town residents are not allowed to participate during the show-cause hearing.
Selectmen may consider several options after hearing the testimony, Canales said. Selectmen could choose to take no action against the liquor license, issue a warning, suspend the license for a specific time period, or revoke the license. Milazzo may appeal any Selectmen action to the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission. Any appeal must be filed within five days of receiving a written local licensing authority decision. Appeals of ABCC decisions are heard at Superior Court and must be filed within 30 days of receipt of an ABCC written decision.
The ABCC does not grant “stays†of local licensing authority decisions in cases of appeal.
Selectmen are likely to consider whether the restaurant is in violation of ABCC Code of Massachusetts Regulation 204 CMR 2.05, which states “No licensee for the sale of alcoholic beverages shall permit any disorder, disturbance, or illegality of any kind to the place in or on the licensed premises. The licensee shall be responsible therefore, whether present or not.â€
Also on Dec. 7, at 7 p.m., Selectmen are expected to reconvene a public hearing about the restaurant’s application to allow nude dancing on the premises. The hearing was opened on Oct. 26 and was continued to Nov. 16; Selectmen initially wanted to continue the hearing to Nov. 30 but agreed to a later date at the request of Milazzo’s attorney Daniel Kelly.
Susan Bush may be reached via e-mail at suebush@iberkshires.com or at 802-823-9367.
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