Board OKs application for liquor license
For the second time in less than a year, Souderton Borough Council has approved having an application submitted to the state for an economic development liquor license.
Economic development liquor licenses are special liquor licenses offered by the state for economic development initiatives and cost less than purchasing an existing liquor license, but there are only a limited amount and it is not easy to get one of the economic development liquor licenses, Borough Manager Mike Coll has previously said.
In November of last year, council approved having the owners
of the Harleysville-based Butcher and Barkeep apply for an economic development liquor license for a planned new restaurant in the former Souderton train station. That application was not approved by the state, but the plans are still moving forward under a new partnership between the Butcher and Barkeep owners and Lansdale-based craft distiller Boardroom Spirits, which will supply the liquor.
At the Sept. 11 meeting, the board was asked to approve having Souderton Food Services LLC apply for an economic development liquor license in the 600 block of East Broad Street.
In answer to council member Kevin Souder’s questions about the address and who the applicant is, Coll said there is no exact address yet because if the license is approved, it would be for a building that would be constructed in the commercial portion of the planned redevelopment of the former Souderton Area High School site and the application is by a limited liability corporation created by developer Clay Heckler, with no known specific tenant for the building at this time.
“So it’s just a made up
name,” Souder said. “We don’t know who they are.”
While it’s not yet known who the restaurant owners would be, the economic development liquor license would be for the building, not the business owners, council President Brian Goshow said.
“It would be strictly for a restaurant in that location,” he said.
“Normally, I thought we’d want to know who’s going to be going into that building and that’s going to be serving the alcohol,” Souder said.
That doesn’t seem to be the case here, though, he said.
It’s a valid concern, Goshow said, but said one of the requirements for an economic development liquor license is that the majority of the sales be food, not alcoholic beverages.
“You’re not looking at a bar here,” Goshow said. “You’re looking at a restaurant with a bar.”
“There’s still a possibility of a biker bar,” Souder said.
Council member Dan Yocum said waiting to submit the application until a tenant is found would make it
more difficult to get a tenant.
The state review process could take a year and only two economic development liquor licenses can be issued per county, Coll said.
It won’t be a chain restaurant moving into the building, Mayor John Reynolds said.
“If a chain restaurant decided to come in, they have the monies available to purchase a liquor license that doesn’t have the restrictions
that this economic development liquor license would have,” he said.
Applying for the economic development liquor license widens the list of possible tenants, he said. It’s in the best interest of everybody, especially the business, to run an upright business, he said.
Council, with Souder casting the lone dissenting vote, approved having the application submitted.
In other matters at the
meeting:
• Residents of the 24-townhouse Berkeley Court phase 1 development that was the first portion of the former high school property to be developed on the former high school parking lot at School Lane and East Broad Street brought concerns about public improvements not having been completed.
Coll said the H&K Group, which is the bondholder, has filed legal action against developer Tim Hendricks.
“I would imagine the matter is probably being held up in litigation,” he said.
He said he had sent an email to the H&K Group that morning asking for an update on the unfinished work.
The work will be done, but the legal dispute is slowing it down, council member Richard Halbom said.
“These kinds of issues, being in the construction business myself for many, many years, I can tell you sometimes they move like a glacier,” he said.
The borough can attempt to help push for the work to be done, though, he said.
• New junior councilor Michael Jones, an 11thgrader at Souderton Area High School, was sworn in.
The junior councilor position is open to high school juniors or seniors living in the borough. The junior councilor attends council meetings and can take part in council discussions, but does not have a vote on the board.
• Mayor John Reynolds noted that Main Street has been repaved.
“For that, we thank PennDOT. Once they got on the job, they did it fairly expeditiously,” Reynolds said.
“I apologize to anybody who lives on Main Street or near there for all the noise, smell and discomfort of the last few weeks, but it’s done,” he said. “Please remember that as slick as Main Street is, it is not a quarter-mile speed track. I caution you to watch your speed on Main Street because I can guarantee you that the Souderton Police Department will be watching.”
“Normally, I thought we’d want to know who’s going to be going into that building and that’s going to be serving the alcohol.” — Council member Kevin Souder