When the selectmen voted 3-2 two weeks ago to renew the liquor license for the Grape Vine beer-and-wine store on Ayer Road, they made their approval contingent on one condition: receipt of a letter from the town’s building inspector by Nov. 30 stating that “the site entrance complies with the town of Harvard bylaws,” or “a written exemption is provided.”
The letter arrived at Town Hall before Thanksgiving on Nov. 22, and Town Administrator Tim Bragan, acting on behalf of the selectmen, confirmed this week that the renewal application for the Grape Vine will be sent to the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABBCC) next week along with those for the General Store, Fruitlands Museum, and the Shaker Hills Golf Club.
Whether the entrance to the Harvard Plaza, where the Grape Vine is located, complies with Harvard’s protective bylaw has been an issue since Robert Hirsch, owner of the Grape Vine, applied for one of Harvard’s three available liquor licenses last year. The original site plan for the plaza was approved in 1973 and specified that an island would be built in the entryway to separate entering and exiting traffic. But the island was never built, and in recent years, separation of traffic has been maintained by a pair of yellow Jersey barriers.
In his letter to the selectmen, Building Inspector Gabe Vellante wrote that as far as he is concerned, the “Jersey barriers meet the intent of the safety requirement of separation of traffic.” Although he has held his position since 1984, he added, he has “not received any complaints regarding the absence of an island at the entrance to the plaza.” Therefore, he wrote, “I find that this entrance must be considered grandfathered, and not subject to meeting the requirements of the original site plan.”
In addition to approving the Harvard Plaza entrance, Vellante, in his letter, also reported that he had issued a final occupancy permit to Hirsch and also confirmed that the Harvard Plaza sign, a bone of contention at an earlier hearing, “is in compliance with” town bylaws, as well as the most recent site plan approved by the Planning Board.
Once ABCC approves the Grape Vine application and returns it, Bragan will issue its license, good for the next 12 months.
