Falmouth Board of Health fines two stores $2,000 and orders weeklong tobacco suspensions after second violations

The Falmouth Board of Health on Thursday imposed $2,000 fines and seven‑day suspensions of tobacco sales for two convenience stores after staff reported each business had a second sale‑to‑minor violation within a 36‑month period.

At a hearing on a violation at 2212 Ticket Highway, a district manager for Cumberland Farms, Jenny Rave, told the board the crew member involved had already been terminated and the company had moved to mandatory ID scanning and register lockouts. “We train and retrain, and anybody who’s caught selling to a minor is terminated immediately,” Rave said, adding the company would remove the products from shelves and store them in zip‑tied totes as required by the board.

The board voted to impose the $2,000 fine and a seven‑day suspension of tobacco sales, and members and the company agreed the suspension would begin the week of June 15. The board specified that tobacco products must be removed from the sales floor and stored sealed offsite or in sealed containers at the store while the suspension is in effect.

At a separate hearing over a second violation at 302 Palmer Avenue, Garrett’s Family Market representatives — Megan Jacobs, vice president of operations, and Erin Warren, the store manager — said they were not contesting the report and described steps taken after the incident: employee retraining, a register lockout that forces staff to scan IDs, and a mystery‑shop program that verifies carding. Jacobs asked the board for leniency on the timing of any suspension, noting the store’s January incident was a different type of compliance issue. “We have retrained all of our folks,” Jacobs said. “We have mystery shoppers twice a month and have not had any failures there.”

After discussion about whether the regulation permits discretion, the board voted to impose the same penalty — a $2,000 fine and seven consecutive days without tobacco sales — and set the suspension to begin on Wednesday, June 10 for Garrett’s. The board directed that the retailer remove and seal tobacco stock while the suspension runs.

Board members and staff emphasized that the penalties flow from the board’s regulation for repeat violations. Staff explained that a second violation within a 36‑month window triggers the statutory penalty; the board repeatedly noted that Falmouth does not ordinarily return retail licenses after a revocation.

The board moved on to septic and other regulatory business after the two hearings.