Fruitlands gets longer season; May festival faces first public hearing
With barely four weeks remaining until Annual Town Meeting, the selectmen were forced to spend more than half of their penultimate public session this week dealing with a variety of licensing issues, which ranged from a continued hearing on changes that Fruitlands Museum had requested to its entertainment and on-premises liquor licenses to a Cisco request for permission to lay cable under Harvard roads as part of a project to connect its two Boxborough campuses with a high-speed network.
The board also debated whether its recently enacted policies required sponsors of the annual Apple Blossom Festival to defend their application for an entertainment license in a public hearing.
Fruitlands had asked the Board of Selectmen (BOS) earlier this year to allow the museum to increase the number of outdoor concerts on its grounds from 10 to 15 per year and to lengthen its season by two months. The museum had also asked that its restaurant be allowed to take orders and serve liquor on its outdoor patio as well as indoors and inside its entertainment tent, and that it be permitted to serve alcoholic beverages beginning at 11 a.m. Sunday morning, which is when the restaurant opens for brunch.
During the earlier public hearing on March 16, the number of neighbors speaking against the changes outnumbered proponents. John Bott, a nonresident Fruitlands board member, was the only person to speak in favor of the application. But supporters were out in force on Tuesday night, including neighbor and board member Dianne Newton, who said reports of excessive noise from weddings and events with amplified music were exaggerated. Others supporters said Fruitlands depends heavily on revenue from its concerts, food service, and events, and needs all the help it can get in tough economic times. Tony Shaw, another Prospect Hill Road resident, said traffic had not increased as long as he had lived in Harvard and that, in his opinion, the town should support “whatever it takes” for the museum— which he called a “good steward”—to succeed. “I strain to hear the concerts, which I find to be delightful,” he said.
Board Chairman Ron Ricci reported he had received 19 e-mails, about half in favor of the changes and the rest opposed, a split that was reflected at Tuesday’s hearing. There seemed to be little or no opposition to an increase in concerts, but those speaking against the Fruitlands changes repeated prior claims that music from weddings had become more intrusive over the years and did not bode well for the future. Charles McVea of Prospect Hill Road asked that the BOS consider making additional noise abatement measures, such as sound barriers, a condition. But Selectman Peter Warren noted, as the hearing drew to a close, that the public record, including testimony from Police Chief Edward Denmark, contained no noise complaints. “I think it’s unfair to have all this public comment on noise issues when there’s no public record,” he said. “I would urge the public to monitor this in the future and act accordingly.”
In the end, the BOS voted unanimously to give Fruitlands most of what it wanted, including the extended season, 15 concerts, and permission to sell and serve liquor within the entire area of its license, which includes the patio and tent. However, because of existing state law, the restaurant cannot serve alcoholic beverages before noon.
But Ricci, in remarks aimed at Fruitlands Chief Executive Officer Tim Firment, said that Fruitlands needs “to make a strenuous effort to make your neighbors happy.” He said he hoped that when Fruitlands returns in the fall to renew its annual licenses “nobody really gives a darn. But you’re going to have to do some work on that,” he added.
“It’s constantly on my mind,” said Firment.
As for the Apple Blossom Festival, which must apply for an entertainment license each year under new rules adopted by the BOS in 2009, the board briefly debated whether to hold a public hearing. Both Ricci and Warren were opposed, but Selectwoman Lucy Wallace said it’s a “slippery slope.” Selectwoman Maria Sobalvarro agreed. “We’ve adopted a policy that requires a public hearing for any entertainment license,” she said. “You don’t get a free pass. We should change the policy or hold the hearing.” After additional discussion, the BOS voted to hold a public hearing on April 27, the last meeting before ATM. Selectmen Wallace, Sobalvarro, and Tim Clark voted in favor; Ricci and Warren abstained.
In other business, Town Administrator Tim Bragan reported that the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) had approved the town’s first two applications for licenses to sell beer and wine. The two applicants—the General Store and Robert Hirsch—must now show they have complied with the conditions that were added to each of their licenses by the selectmen, a step that requires inspections of store premises by the Board of Health, town building inspector, and the chief of police. The selectmen expect to vote to issue the licenses within the next few weeks.