Cranston council approves liquor-license transfer, confirms new fire chief; residents press council on gun-range noise and road closure

Cranston — The Cranston City Council on Monday unanimously approved a conditional transfer of a Class B liquor license for a restaurant at 3000 Chapel View Boulevard and a related new victualler license, gave advice and consent to Mayor Hopkins’ appointment of Daniel Marcinko as the city’s next fire chief, and heard competing public testimony about the closure of Honeysuckle Drive and repeated complaints about gunfire noise from the city’s police firing range.

The council approved the license transfer from Chapel Restaurant LLC (doing business as Chapel Grill) to the applicant doing business as Searcy Prime Italian Steakhouse, but only after accepting two objection letters into the record and adding conditions that must be met before the license is issued. The transfer motion and a separate motion to grant a new victualler/victorian license both passed on roll-call votes.

Why it matters: The license decisions affect a high-profile restaurant’s ability to operate in Cranston, while the public comments about the gun range and the Honeysuckle Drive closure underscore two neighborhood-level safety and quality‑of‑life disputes that residents and the council say they are still working to resolve.

The liquor-license transfer and objections

Under public hearings the committee considered a request to transfer a Class B liquor license for the business at 3000 Chapel View Boulevard. The clerk reported there were two objection letters submitted after publication of the docket. A solicitor asked that the committee “accept these two objections ... and place [them] into the record.” The committee voted to accept the letters.

The two communications entered into the record were described in committee as: (1) a Jan. 23, 2025, letter from Sanappi Law Associates signed by attorney Gregory Mancini asserting two clients are owed $1,496 and $2,648; and (2) a Jan. 21, 2025, letter from attorney Paul Pisano stating his clients MS Walker of Rhode Island, Inc. are owed $3,236.49 and Johnson Brothers of Rhode Island are owed $2,956.13. The council then amended and approved a motion to grant the transfer “subject to obtaining a letter of good standing from the Division of Taxation” and to obtaining releases from the four businesses reflected in the two letters the committee had placed in the record.

The applicant who spoke was Carlo Carlozzi, who identified himself, gave his East Greenwich address and said he would answer questions. After discussion the council voted to approve the transfer as amended; the clerk recorded a roll-call vote with all members voting yes.

A separate motion to grant a new victualler/victorian license for the same business at 3000 Chapelville was also approved on the condition that the applicant produce a certificate from the Rhode Island Department of Health before the license is issued.

Mayor’s appointment of new fire chief

The council also held advice-and-consent hearings and votes on mayoral appointments in committee and later on the full council agenda. Mayor Hopkins’ nomination of Daniel Marcinko (spoken in the record as “Marcinko”/“Masenko” at times in the transcript) to be fire chief was presented in finance and then taken up by the full council. Director Murray (identified in the transcript as “Director Murray”) described Marcinko as “humble,” “kind,” and “a strong leader” and asked the council for its advice and consent. Several current and former department colleagues and union representatives spoke in public comment in support: Amin Niquette (identified in the record as a current captain) described his work history with Marcinko; Jonathan Francis, president of the local firefighters’ union, also spoke in favor.

After brief remarks from council members the council took a roll-call vote; the clerk recorded the appointment as approved with all council members voting yes.

Public comment: Honeysuckle Drive and the gun range

Two long-running local controversies drew substantial public comment.

Honeysuckle Drive: Several residents spoke both for and against the permanent closure of Honeysuckle Drive at Phoenix Avenue. Opponents, including Kathy Nassau (spoken in the record as “Kathy NASA/Nassau”), said the unannounced street closure and the data provided in response to public-record requests raised unanswered questions about traffic diversion, emergency access and the accuracy of counts in the city’s traffic study. Nassau told the council she hand-delivered an APRA request and said neighbors were not notified before barriers were placed.

Supporters of the closure, including neighborhood residents who organized a petition, said the closure has cut unsafe cut-through traffic, slowed speeds and allowed children to play outside. Chris Jasinski, who said his neighborhood signed a petition supporting the closure, told the council “our neighborhood has been transformed” since the intersection was blocked.

The police described their traffic study during public comment. Lieutenant Anthony Sasso of the Cranston Police Department told the council a multi-day study showed heavy cutter traffic and that officers observed vehicles using local streets to bypass a nearby intersection; he said the department believes the closure has alleviated constituents’ traffic concerns.

Gun-range noise and health concerns: More than a half dozen residents described repeated, disruptive gunfire from the municipal firing range on Phoenix Avenue and urged the council to move or enclose the facility. Speakers included Susan Blake and Heidi Levine, who described noise and public‑health worries for schoolchildren and nearby residents, and Patricia Schoninger, who supplied video evidence to the council showing rounds audible during school hours. Blake said: “No amount of upgraded outdoor athletic areas or million‑dollar microplastic fake grass will ever take the sound of a Sig Sauer or an AR 15 away.”

Several residents proposed short- and medium-term remedies: restrict non‑Cranston law‑enforcement agencies from using the range, require suppressors or limit firing hours, and accelerate the mayor’s effort to find new land or funding for an indoor range. The council accepted a packet of materials related to the issue into the record on a roll-call vote.

Other business and audit presentation

The council also received an auditor presentation of the city’s comprehensive annual financial report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024. CliftonLarsonAllen presented an unmodified (clean) opinion on the city’s financial statements and highlighted several items the auditors flagged for attention, including a school internal‑service (health claims) fund deficit that auditors reported at roughly $5.7 million and multi‑year pension/OPEB liabilities. The auditors reported the general fund’s fund balance increased modestly compared with the prior year while school bond activity and certain enterprise fund balances showed larger movements tied to financing and capital projects.

Votes at a glance

- Liquor license transfer, 3000 Chapel View Blvd (Chapel Grill → Searcy Prime Italian Steakhouse): Approved (motion as amended to require a letter of good standing from the Division of Taxation and releases from four businesses identified in two objection letters). Objections accepted into the record before the vote. - Victualler/victorian license, 3000 Chapelville (Searcy Prime Italian Steakhouse): Approved, subject to applicant producing a certificate from the Rhode Island Department of Health. - Advice and consent for Mayor Hopkins’ appointment of Daniel Marcinko as fire chief: Approved (roll-call vote, all yes). - Acceptance of packet/materials related to the police firing range into the record: Approved (roll-call vote, all yes). - Various committee and board appointments and routine minutes approvals: multiple individual roll-call votes; items approved as recorded in the official minutes.

What’s next

The council did not take final action on the gun‑range siting or on reopening Honeysuckle Drive at this meeting; both remain matters of public interest and may be revisited in committee or through administrative follow-up. The liquor-license approvals are conditional: the licensing clerk will not issue any license until the Division of Taxation letter and the required releases and health‑department certificate have been delivered and verified.

— Reporting by Cranston City Council meeting transcript; quotes and vote records drawn from the official meeting record.