Caroline County board approves temporary expansion for Chop Tank River Yacht Club for March event

The Caroline County Board of License Commissioners on Jan. 28 approved a one-day expansion of the Chop Tank River Yacht Club's licensed premise so the club can include a parking lot between the building and River Landing Road for an Easter egg hunt scheduled for Saturday, March 28, from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Kelly Darling, representing the yacht club on behalf of applicant Mr. Whaley, explained that the serving-area expansion would allow adults who obtain beverages inside to carry them to the outdoor family event and said the club expected similar requests in the future for annual events such as trunk-or-treats and the Easter egg hunt.

Board staff noted they are preparing a standardized approval form to allow permanent license holders with recurring annual events to request multi-year approvals. The board administrator said the draft form was modeled on the process used for temporary license holders but adjusted to account for varying event dates.

Commissioner (speaker 5) moved to approve the temporary expansion for the March 28 event and to notify the licensee once the three-year approval procedure is finalized; the motion was seconded and adopted by voice vote.

The board instructed licensees to notify the liquor board of dates and times each year; if a premise or event location changes, the licensee must return to the board for approval.

The motion and approval were procedural; no individual vote tally by name was recorded in the transcript. The board said staff will finalize the written three-year approval form and return it at the next meeting for formal adoption.