Henniker Boards Exercising Power They Don't Have - Granite Grok

Henniker Boards Exercising Power They Don’t Have

HennikerResidents in Henniker, folks the powers that be would refer to as troublemakers, have uncovered yet another potential abuse of power in their town.

The planning board, during site plan reviews, has been stipulating operating hours for local businesses. They are telling private business owners how late they can remain open. But there are no laws or ordinances on the books that empower the planning board to designate hours of operation.

So what is a business owner to do if they want to stay open later?

The owner of College Convenience Store (Mr. Jay Patel), would like to stay open later. They get the issue on the agenda in April and meet with the Henniker Selectboard in public session.

Published Draft of the relevant Minutes.

Item 4: Request by Jay Patel of College Convenience Store to extend hours.
Russ Roy reported that RSA 179:17 Section II (A) states that off-premises licensees may sell from 6 AM to 11:45 pm, 7 days a week. Mr. Patel stated that the main reason for the request is to sell food. After a certain time of night, there is nowhere in town to get anything to eat.

Selectman Flynn said he checked with Mark Fougere and there was nothing in the rules for standard hours of operation for stores. Vice Chair Hooper would like to know what the site plan review states, if anything, before approving this request. Selectman Fortner stated that we have a large contingency of college students and a company ready to meet the demand. He felt that they should be allowed to service the population based on the RSA. Selectman French stated he would like input from the police chief.

Selectman Fortner stated that having our police chief weigh in is not applicable in this case.

Vice Chair Hooper allowed Scott Dias to comment. He asked if this would be setting a precedent for
other alcohol businesses in town. Selectman Fortner made a point of order that the discussion was out of order and for the public to weigh in it takes a majority vote of the board.

Bruce Trivellini agreed with Selectman Flynn. He didn’t see why the owners needed to come before the
Selectboard. He said they have operated a stellar business and commend them for coming before the board.

Selectman Fortner asked the Patels what brought them before the Selectboard. They said they students wanted to know the town was okay with them staying open later.

Vice Chair stated she would like to dig into this further.

A motion to provide a letter of support failed. A motion to table the request failed. The board hints that they’ll look into it, but the result is nothing; which is ironic in that neither the planning board that appears to have set a precedent (for establishing hours of operation) nor the Selectboard that left Mr. Patel hanging has any actual authority to dictate how late the College Convenience store may sell food.

But they gave that impression and reinforced the perception that the hours (presumably) set by the Planning Board during site review were enforceable and could not be changed without a by-your-leave from another cabal of town officials, and that they’d look into that.

Rumor has it the board thinks they were both clear and that this is resolved. To prove otherwise, a resident transcribed the board’s conversation from video of the meeting; the italics are notes added by the transcriber.

Flynn: Would it matter if you had to wait two more weeks to find out whether there’s a problem with us making that possible – would it be OK?  It would be just in time for graduation when the sales go big.
Patel: Everyone is looking for food and we, right now, close at 11:00 p.m. and there is already a big line. And some are furious because we don’t go over 11:00 p.m.  So that’s the only reason, to sell food.
Motion: Provide a letter of support. Failed.
French: It’s dead until we find out more about it then.
Hooper: I will make a motion to table this for now until next meeting, and we do some additional research and get additional information for steps to move forward.

Confusion ensued by SB Flynn that there was a second motion on the table, to which SB Hooper explains that her motion “was to table until the next meeting, or do additional work, or not bring it back.”  There had been no second to this very convoluted motion until the stenographer asked who seconded the motion?  SB Hooper quickly stated Bob, to which he picked up the cue and agreed. The video does not confirm a second. 

Hooper: (Addressing SB Flynn.)  I can remove my motion.
French: I can hold it back and just move on until we get more information anyway. You want to let them know where we stand then?
Hooper: (Addressing Patel’s.)Yea, so what has happened is the motion has failed…at this point, and we’re going to go on to the next agenda. And we’re going to move on in the agenda, and (after looking at SB Flynn) we’re going to review the minutes.
Flynn: (Addressing the Patel’s) Two weeks.
French: It can be put back on again.
Fortner: (Addressing the Patel’s, defined the motions and outcome.) The board in no way ruled on the hours of operation.
French: We didn’t change anything.

Have we all walked away from this discussion with a clear understanding of who has the authority and what the resolution is?

Could it get worse?

Before the 4/18 meeting board member Flynn is reported to have been provided with guidance on this matter. The Select Board has no authority to dictate operating hours.

We have this, from a letter to the select board, Planning Board, Town Administrator, Police Chief French, and the Patels,

That information should have been passed onto Mr. Patel through the Town Administrator, with an administrator’s report to the Board of her handling of this request. Instead, citizens had to sit through 18 minutes of a matter the Board literally had no authority over but tried to find it, and the Patel’s lost peace of mind and valuable earnings.

No one holding an office has yet clarified that the Select Board has no authority in the matter of how late a business sells food in the town of Henniker. No one in elected or appointed office has clarified that the Planning Board has no authority on this issue either. And Mr. Patel is left in limbo unsure how he may proceed while the town acts as if it has a say and that the matter is closed.

The only thing that would be “more Henniker” than this is if the Patels decided to stay open later on their own and the town came after them for it.

 

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