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Brookfield organizer seeks outdoor alcohol permission; board says site‑plan review required
Summary
An event organizer asked the select board to allow outdoor alcohol service for a late‑October event; the board said the approved permit did not include outdoor alcohol and reiterated that a site‑plan review and planning‑board approval are required before a permanent authorization or indefinite liquor‑commission letter can be issued.
Speaker 3, who identified themselves as the event organizer, told the board they submitted a special‑event application for Oct. 26 and asked that parents be allowed to "walk outside with their drinks." The presiding select‑board member (Speaker 1) responded that the permit the board approved did not include outside alcohol and that "no outside alcohol" was what the board approved.
The exchange clarified a procedural gap: Speaker 3 asked whether the board would have considered outside alcohol if it had been included on the application. Speaker 1 said it "would have been considered" if it had been included and emphasized that an approved site‑plan review is required for certain changes in use. Legal counsel had advised the board the operation is not lawful without a site‑plan review, the board said.
The board and members of the public also discussed a cease‑action notice tied to the property. Speaker 1 told the organizer, "If you don't stop, we go to Superior Court," and referenced a November 1 deadline in the cease letter. Board members said they will wait to see whether the planning board receives a full application Monday and noted that, if the planning board finds a good‑faith effort, the select board will consider rewriting or extending the letter but would not commit to doing so until after that review.
Board members agreed to rework the town's special‑event and temporary‑event forms to clarify when applicants must appear before the select board, and to consider issuing an indefinite letter consistent with an approved site‑plan review. Staff offered to help applicants produce a compliant abutters list and other documentation needed for the planning‑board submission.
The board did not take immediate further enforcement action at the meeting; it directed staff and the organizer to bring the full application to the planning board on Monday for site‑plan review and said any change to the November 1 date would depend on planning‑board findings.
