Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Liquor Licenses topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
East Greenwich renews most liquor licenses; new noise ordinance complicates Main Street outdoor music
Summary
Council approved renewal of dozens of alcoholic beverage licenses for Dec. 1, 2024–Nov. 30, 2025, including conditional approval for a Main Street business whose outdoor amplified sound will be reviewed in spring 2025; clerk outlined a three-tier vetting system and several businesses were granted renewal pending inspections or state approvals.
At a public hearing, Town Clerk Lee Carney presented annual alcoholic beverage license renewals for the Dec. 1, 2024–Nov. 30, 2025 term and grouped applications into three categories: those ready for approval; those approved but not issued pending local inspections or approvals; and incomplete applications awaiting state approvals.
Carney identified a group of applicants ready for full approval and the council voted 4–0 to renew those licenses, including Savory Grape, Drip Coffee House (which requested indoor solo acoustic entertainment), Hill and Harbor Cigar Bar, Main Street Coffee, Toscano, Natale's, Rasa, Silver Spoon Bakery, Sombra, Tio Mateo's, Greenwich Bay Gourmet and Regency Cigar.
Carney noted two specific cases. Drip Coffee seeks to add a limited indoor entertainment endorsement ("a single soloist acoustic inside, Friday and Saturday nights"). Bezos applied for renewal and an outdoor amplified-sound privilege; the council approved Bezos’s license but deferred review of its outdoor amplified-sound permit until spring 2025 "subject to further review in spring 2025," citing the town’s new noise ordinance and a requirement for proof of sound testing at property lines.
Councilors and staff discussed that the noise ordinance requires testing at property lines and does not include a grandfather clause, meaning Main Street businesses with outdoor amplification will need to demonstrate compliance or consider non-amplified outdoor music or indoor amplified music. A second group of applicants was granted renewals but not issued until building, fire marshal and other local approvals are complete. A third, longer list of applicants remains incomplete or awaiting state approvals and was continued; Wayside Grill was pulled from that list, and its continuance was scheduled for Nov. 12 with Councilor Zarrella recused from that item.
Carney moved the standard motions and the approvals were recorded with votes as listed in the council minutes.
