Select Board approves Essex Tech’s Larkin event-center entertainment license with restrictions after neighbors raise traffic and commercial-use concerns

The Select Board on Tuesday approved an entertainment license for the Larkin Event Center at Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School but attached multiple conditions after more than two hours of public comment and board questions about noise, traffic and commercial use of a publicly funded facility.

Heidi (representing the Larkin project) and manager Ryan Monks described the Larkin as a training and agricultural museum space tied to the school’s culinary and hospitality programs. They said the primary intent is educational: students will work in the facility under chef instructors during school hours and on some adult-program events. "The intention is that [revenue] would be reinvested into the school, primarily at the Larkin, where there would be ongoing maintenance, cost of utilities and services," Heidi said.

Neighbors and several Select Board members pressed for detail on how the facility will be used, who will staff events, how parking and traffic would be handled and whether private, revenue-generating events could place the school at an unfair advantage vis-à-vis commercial venues. Resident speakers said the neighborhood is residential and warned that frequent private events — especially summer evenings — would worsen existing traffic and noise. "This is a residential neighborhood," resident Kelly Deong Dahl said, asking that the board "slow down" and consider community uses such as charity luncheons before approving a license for recurring private events.

Board members probed governance and accounting: Larkin operates under a deregulated LLC attached to a nonprofit, and the Select Board asked for documentation of the school committee vote authorizing the LLC. Town legal counsel and the applicant said funds and accounting will be managed through the school business office and audited as part of the district's annual fiscal audit.

Other details elicited at the hearing included these clarifications from the applicant and town staff:

- Capacity and parking: The event center holds about 120 persons for round-table seating and up to about 220 in theater layout. The newly configured campus parking area provides about 44 spots, including two ADA spaces; the site also includes additional parking near Smith Hall. The applicant said larger events would be managed with on-site staff or a hired parking attendant as needed.

- Student involvement and outside caterers: The culinary program aims to run many events with students and teacher-instructors; if staff or students are unavailable, the school may contract outside caterers. Teacher pay for chef instructors was described as approximately $50 per hour; the applicant said private-event pricing is not guaranteed to be cheaper than commercial venues because of that staffing cost.

- Procurement and finance: The school business office will handle receipts and apply standard procurement rules for purchases above the district threshold (quotes or competitive procurement are required at or above approximately $10,000 cumulative in the fiscal year). The applicant said they are working with district counsel and auditors to ensure proper accounting and oversight.

- One-day liquor licenses: Select Board members were told a school committee vote is required before the Select Board will approve one-day liquor licenses for events on school property under the statutory exception discussed at the hearing.

After deliberation the board unanimously agreed to several conditions and a limited schedule for private entertainment. The motion — made and read into the record by a Select Board member — imposed these principal conditions:

- No amplified live entertainment or public-address systems outside the building; sound must be contained indoors. - Entertainment must end by 9 p.m. nightly. - Building windows must remain closed while entertainment is happening. - Private (non‑school) entertainment use is limited to three calendar days per week (Sunday–Saturday). School-sponsored events and student‑run activities are not counted within that cap; the board asked that the district clearly distinguish student/school events from private rentals. - The school must publish a documented method for neighbors to report issues and a phone contact that will ring to staff for immediate response during events; that contact method must be posted on the school’s website and provided to police and fire for direct access. - The school must document how parking and on-site monitoring will be handled during events and provide that information to the town upon request. - The Larkin LLC must provide records of the school committee vote authorizing the LLC and attach that vote to any subsequent one-day liquor-license application. The board also asked that any one-day liquor-license application include a copy of the school committee authorization. - The board will review the license and receive a status update in December (the item was added as a condition to return during the renewal cycle).

The board voted to approve the license with those conditions and a December follow-up. One board member recorded a dissent on the final voice vote; the board recorded the decision as approved with conditions and set the December review date.

Select Board members said they expect to enforce conditions through the licensing process and to call the applicant back if neighborhood complaints rise. The board and applicants also discussed operational details such as how the town and school would log and share complaint records and the process for emergency contact during events.

The hearing drew several residents who urged tighter limits or denial; the board cited the need to balance neighborhood impacts with the school's educational mission and the economic reality that renting school facilities is a common revenue source for public school districts.

The license takes effect following preparation and execution of the written license document incorporating the board’s conditions; the board directed staff to prepare that document and scheduled the December check-in.