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Board tables Jolly Vapors licensing review after inspectors find flavored products in locked storeroom; further documents requested
Summary
After inspectors found flavored products and other non-permitted items in a locked storeroom and raised building life-safety issues following nearby shootings, the Lynn Board of Health voted to table a decision on Jolly Vapors’ license until Oct. 21 while staff collect additional evidence and a city-council communication.
The Lynn Board of Health on Sept. 9 tabled consideration of whether to suspend or revoke the license of Jolly Vapors, the subject of a life-safety and tobacco-enforcement review, after inspectors reported finding a locked storeroom packed with flavored products and other items not permitted for retail in Massachusetts.
Inspectional Services and zoning officer Chris Poole told the board police responded to a May shooting at the building and subsequent interior inspections revealed unauthorized residential occupancy and a locked storeroom that later was found to contain large quantities of flavored products and invoices. Poole said he issued orders related to occupancy and building conditions; he told the board, "I issued orders ... to cease and desist all occupancies in that building because none of the businesses operating in there has the required certificate of occupancy including Jolly Vapors." (Chris Poole, Inspectional Services).
Evidence discussed in the hearing included photographs and an invoice recovered in the storage room. Counsel and witnesses disputed whether the products belonged to Jolly Vapors or to a different, out-of-state distributor who reportedly had leased the storage area. One witness described a lease and said the distributor, identified in the hearing as Eric Schwartz, had used the space for storage and had since removed product. The board heard competing accounts: staff described an egregious presence of nonpermitted product while the owner's attorney and representatives said the invoice and product were unrelated to Jolly Vapors’ retail inventory.
Owner Jack Jolley (who identified himself in the hearing) offered a written statement and said he took responsibility for past mistakes but disputed some allegations about distribution. "I take full responsibility for any missteps that have occurred," Jolley said, and asked the board to consider his history and the practical difficulties of relocating. (Jack Jolley, owner, Jolly Vapors).
Board members also discussed a recent zoning change that requires a city-council-issued special permit for "sensitive retail" locations; staff warned that even if a proprietor obtained a special permit at a new site, Board of Health licensing remains a separate requirement. Given unresolved facts (conflicting accounts about who owned the product and a communication from the city council president that board members had not seen), the board voted to table consideration of license revocation or other sanctions until Oct. 21 and requested staff circulate the missing correspondence and supporting photos.
What’s next: staff will provide the council-president communication, photographs and any supporting invoices or distributor documentation before the Oct. 21 meeting so the board can complete its review.
