Councilor Pivots On Liquor Vote After Hearing From Constituents

MELROSE, MA — City Councilor Robb Stewart said he changed his vote on allowing some local stores to sell liquor after speaking with residents, deciding against the liquor license expansion just two weeks after "reluctantly" supporting it in committee.

"Monday night at the Melrose City Council meeting, I voted against the expansion of liquor licensing," Stewart, the Ward 3 Councilor, said in a statement on social media. "I had originally supported this order when presented in committee, albeit reluctantly, but after further reflection and discussion with many residents of my ward, I chose to dissent from the majority vote."

Stewart said that while he thinks liquor sales should be allowed, he couldn't get past the inclusion of nips, which had been the most contentious part of the order among the City Council and community.

"While I fully support initiatives to make the local business community stronger and I do not disagree with the inclusion of spirits for select commercial interests, I believe that including small package bottles, or ‘nips’, is contrary to what we want to represent as family oriented city, as a progressive leader in reducing waste, and as a safe and responsible community," he said.

Stewart was one of two Councilors to vote against the order Monday. Ward 5 Councilor Shawn MacMaster also voted against it, having been the sole dissenter when the Appropriations Committee voted on it Feb. 10. MacMaster, like Stewart, agreed on expanding liquor sales, but hoped to hear more from the administration on the larger context of alcohol sales in Melrose.

Monday's vote approved a special act that would allow the city's three retail liquor licenses to include the sale of liquor. Buckalew's and Beacon Hill Wine have the two licenses in circulation. The special act still needs to make its way through the State House.

Buckalew's has said it will not carry nips.

The inclusion of nips in the order was a divisive issue, one that likely could have been removed if not for City Solicitor Robert Van Campen's warning that the state legislature may not act favorably on essentially banning nips. Whether a community can ban the sale of the small single-use plastic containers is currently being decided in court after Chelsea's ban.

Local legislators hope the city's liquor commission will be able to enact nip restrictions if and when the liquor sales get approved.