The Revere License Commission held its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday,
December 17, in the City Council Chamber. On hand for the session were chair Robert Selevitch and members Liliana Monroy and Daniel Occena.
The commissioners had a full agenda, causing the lengthy meeting to extend for two and one-half hours. Most of that time was consumed by four hearings into various alleged violations by five establishments.
The first hearing pertained to two establishments, Lupita Revere, LLC, d/b/a Lupita Restaurant, 111 Shirley Avenue, Erasmo A. Guevara, manager, “into disruptions of the public safety and order, service to intoxicated patrons, violation of license closing rules, and violation of on-premises license law” and Taqueria Eucalipto II Corp., d/b/a Las Vegas Restaurant, 107 Shirley Avenue, Claudia Isabel Cabrera, manager, “into disruptions of the public safety and order, service to intoxicated patrons, violation of license closing rules, and violation of on-premises license law.”
Attorney James Cipoletta represented Lupita’s. The commission had rolled back the hours from 2:00 to 1:00 at the previous meeting in November based on complaints from neighbors about noise late at night.
Selevitch said he had spoken to a Revere police officer about the issue.
“There is a confluence of intoxicated patrons in this area,” Selevitch said to Cipoletta. “In a way, I feel badly for your client, because he seems to be getting tagged with this, even though there are two other establishments in the area.”
However, a resident who lives across the street, who had spoken at the meeting last month, told the commissioners that though the noise has receded from Lupita’s, the noise and the chaos has migrated to the nearby Las Vegas establishment. He suggested that all of the establishments on Shirley Ave. should be closed at 1:00 AM.
Another resident buttressed the testimony of her fellow resident, telling the commissioners of the loud noise, the fights, and the drunken patrons who vomit and urinate in the streets.
A third resident also spoke of the loud noise and noted that Lupita’s has been relatively quiet since its hours have been rolled back. He testified about an intoxicated patron who had been prevented from driving off by the Revere police, but returned after they had left to drive away.
The commissioners also heard from Revere Police Sgt. Nichlas Fantasia, who often patrols the area at night and who offered his expertise about how to address the problems.
After much back-and-forth about a solution, the commissioners were leaning toward allowing both Lupita’s and Las Vegas to remain open until 2:00, but requiring them to hire additional police details on Friday and Saturday nights (and jointly share the cost, which is $462 per officer for a four-hour detail) in order to patrol the street to prevent disturbances from arising and to keep the crowd moving along.
However, when Ms. Cabrera from Las Vegas’s said that she would rather close at 1:00 than pay for police details, Occena made a motion to roll back Las Vegas’s hours to 1:00 and extend Lupita’s rollback for another 30 days, with the parties to come back in 30 days to see how things are working out. Monroy seconded the motion and it carried.
Next up was a hearing regarding R K & E Corp., d/b/a BK’s Bar & Grill,
264 Ocean Avenue, “into disruptions of the public safety and order, service to intoxicated patrons, violation of license closing rules, and violation of on-premises license law.”
Attorney Cipoletta also represented this establishment along with Robert Kelly, the assistant manager.
“We have a similar situation that we’ve had with the previous establishments,” said Selevitch. “But one of the problems with BK’s is that you have two doors and only one security person and people are leaving with alcohol and people have been seen on the street drinking.”
Selevitch said he had been there recently at 2:00 AM and had observed that there still were about 15 people drinking. “You had people behind the bar who should not have been there and people leaving the bar through one of the doors with alcohol. It seemed as if the place didn’t have a lot of controls going on.”
Kelly addressed the issues that were raised in the police reports. Kelly said he would be willing to make the rear door an “Emergency Exit Only” door with an alarm that could be locked from the outside. However, he acknowledged that an underage drinker had been allowed into the club through the rear door by another patron.
Occena also asked about the club’s staff person “cursing out” a police officer who had been on the premises trying to enforce the closing hours. “I was very disturbed to read that,” said Occena
Sgt. Fantasia also spoke. “We’ve had a plethora of issues down there, especially during the past summer that you can see from the police logs and police reports. The staff there has not been welcoming to the police and have been uncooperative. It seems to be a management issue. There is no control. There are liquor bottles in the parking lot and beer cans which shows there is alcohol leaving the establishment, I myself observed a person leaving through the front door with a bottle of alcohol in their hands.”
Fantasia also spoke about Halloween Night when someone, who identified himself as a manager, became very belligerent. Fantasia also spoke of the problem about identifying who the manager is on any given night “because every night I’m there, there is a different manager. Overall, the employees of this business are not very cooperative with the police. There are fights in the streets, disturbances, people drinking out back, people walking in the middle of Ocean Ave. who are leaving their establishment. There is no oversight there. The patrons are running the place.”
Selevitch then raised the issue that the establishment does not have an actual manager of record (the manager on the license is no longer the manager, but the commission has taken no action on that issue for at least two years), something that was supposed to be resolved years ago, but which has been delayed because of a pending action in the Probate Court.
Monroy also asked about the large crowds that have gathered outside after closing. Kelly said he has tried “to keep the crowd moving to get them out.”
“Crowd control exiting the building is the biggest problem,” said Fantasia. “We also have stopped numerous people drinking from alcohol containers outside the premises. There also have to be definitive rules for the customers and the employees.”
“We’ve been hearing about issues at BKs for months,” added Occena, “including two reports of non-compliance and lack of cooperation with city officials for the last five months, at least. I believe that there needs to be some sort of decisive decision that needs to be made, today. The manager is not really present there and when he is there, he doesn’t seem to have real control over what’s going on there. I’m not going to sit back and wait for something serious to happen when the proof is in the pudding before us. Something has to be done today to address the public safety issues that have come to light over the past six months.”
“You’ve minimized the problem of crowd control. There has been a lack of management, added Monroy. “We still don’t have a manager on file. This is where your problems are coming from.”
Cipoletta suggested that the establishment provide a “written management plan” within 30 days.
Occena then made a motion to roll back the hours to 12 midnight and give them the opportunity to come back with a management plan. “Incremental penalties for BK’s will not address the problems,” Occena said
“I think this may be punitive and a little excessive,” said Selevitch, who said he would not vote to second that motion. Monroy added, “I think 12 o’clock is excessive.”
Selevitch then suggested that the hours be rolled back to 1 a.m..
However, Occena persisted with his motion. “We are talking about inherent problems with this establishment. We’ve been hearing about this establishment for months. Thirty days is not a long time to have them give a comprehensive plan. If this does not get addressed immediately, things can get out of hand.”
“Again, I think a rollback to 12 AM is excessive,” said Selevitch, “I would support a 1 AM rollback.” Selevitch then made the motion to roll back the hours to 1:00 AM and.Monroy supported the motion.
“I would like my objection noted for the record,” said Occena.
The next item on the agenda was a hearing regarding KST Corporation, d/b/a Bill Ash‚Äôs Lounge, 78 Revere Beach Boulevard, Kerry Tunstall, manager, “into disruptions of the public safety and order, service to intoxicated patrons, violation of
license closing rules, and violation of on-premises license law.”
Mr. Tunstall appeared on behalf of Bill Ash’s.
Sgt. Fantasia spoke on this matter as well. “The main issue there is the parking lot, which also has patrons from BKs across the street. We’ve had numerous complaints of noise, people drinking outside the premises, and the establishment serving patrons after 2:00 AM. There has been zero cooperation with the management.”
Mr. Tunstall mentioned that Bill Ash’s will be closing in June because the new owner of the property will be redeveloping the real estate, which includes the adjacent properties, to construct a residential complex.
Occena made a motion to roll back the hours to 1:00 a.m., but Selevitch opposed it.
“This is the first time we’ve seen Bill Ash’s here and at a time when it is already an economic liability as far as having a place, I think they should receive a warning with a plan to address the parking lot issue and come back in 30 days to see if things are better. Let’s table this for 30 days pending a management plan for the parking lot.”
Occena once again voiced his objection for the record.
The final hearing concerned Lumina Lounge, LLC, d/b/a Lumina Lounge, 63 Revere Beach Boulevard, Omar Preciado, manager, “into disruptions of the public safety and order, service to intoxicated patrons, violation of license closing rules, violation of on-premises license law, and assault.”
Attorney Gabriela D’Ambrosio appeared on behalf of Lumina Lounge, along with representatives from the establishment.
Sgt. Fantasia once again laid out the problems that precipitated the hearing. “They have been open only five months and we’ve dealt with several reports of altercations, some involving Lumina’s security personnel, and patrons being on the premises after 2:00 AM. They don’t seem to be controlling the crowd that is in there and when they’re outside.”
D’Ambrosio said that the establishment has put into place a management plan that has addressed the issues raised in the police reports. She asked the commission for 30 days to present a remediation plan and present it to the commission.
Occena highlighted the issues raised in the police reports, particularly a severe assault by security personnel upon a patron outside the establishment. However, Occena said he was on the premises recently and, “I personally observed an establishment that is being run extremely well. I have all the confidence that they are going to get it together.”
Selevitch said he also made a personal observation and said the music “was still going until 1:40, which obviously is going to make it hard to get people to leave by 2:00. You have to shut the music down by 1:00, with the last call at 1:30.”
The commissioners unanimously agreed to give Lumina 30 days to come up with a management plan to address the violations.
