New Shoreham Council renews Ballard's Inn license after police withdraws request for restrictions

The New Shoreham Town Council on Dec. 1 renewed Ballard's Inn's Class BV beverage license and agreed not to reimpose the special restrictions that had been attached in prior years, after the town's police chief told the council he no longer supported those added conditions.

Brian LaPlante, counsel for Ballard's, told the council that Rhode Island law limits licensing bodies from treating an offense older than three years as an ongoing basis for fines or revocations. "Rhode Island General Laws 3-5-21 ... an offense committed by a licensee more than 3 years ago shall be considered a first offense," LaPlante said, arguing the town lacked competent evidence to reimpose conditions tied to the 2022 incidents.

The council's discussion focused on public-safety assurances the licensee offered. Steve Felipe, representing Ballard's, said the business has had a clean record for the past three years and described operational practices he said would continue: maintaining a trained security team wearing matching uniforms, coordinating proactively with the police chief, and retaining private EMTs and ambulance coverage for key holiday weekends. "We've had no violations, no nothing, and we're gonna continue that," Felipe said.

Members pressed for specifics about emergency coverage, which Felipe said he plans to schedule every weekend in July and August and to guarantee ambulance coverage for Fourth of July and V-J Day weekend. The council also raised concerns about simultaneous outdoor music: councilors asked the owner to limit concurrent outdoor music activity, and Felipe agreed to the council's expectations and to work with the chief to document the agreement.

The motion to renew the license and record the licensee's agreement with the police chief passed on a voice vote recorded in the meeting as 3–2. The council's solicitor and town staff said the written agreement would be attached to the town file for future reference but noted it would not be formally imposed as a restriction on the license.

The council made clear that if town staff or the police chief documents violations in the coming season, the licensing body may revisit conditions or pursue enforcement under existing procedures. The council also recorded that past appeals related to the 2022 events were dismissed and did not result in adverse findings against the licensee, a point raised during the hearing.

What happens next: the license renewal takes effect immediately; the owner and the police chief will maintain the operational arrangement the council recorded for the town file.