Retailers and other business owners often complain about is the thin labor pool that makes staffing difficult in southern Berkshire County. The problem is caused in no small measure by the lack of affordable housing
Successful businesses are always on the hunt for growth opportunities, and package stores are no exception. But the stores face competitive threats that were hard to imagine only 15 years ago.
Abrahams doubts anything will come of it because the ethics commission told him earlier there was no conflict of interest so long as he did not have a financial relationship with the applicant or otherwise stand to benefit financially.
The state sets a quota for the total number of licenses based on year-round population. Census figures set Great Barrington at two all-alcohol licenses and five beer-and-wine licenses. But the town currently has eight total licenses, only one of which is beer-and-wine only.
While a long list of businesses and other organizations said they supported the new bylaw, it did not sit did well with a number of other merchants, who felt the ban would harm their businesses or who objected on the grounds of legislative overreach.Â
"The new zone would continue to allow retail and commercial establishments, like the current B-2, but it would also allow for a variety of residential uses."
-- Great Barrington Town Planner Chris Rembold
The idea was to collect 5-cent deposit beverage containers from the town transfer station and send the money to victims of a historically destructive month of hurricanes. In the process, we also developed some ideas about how the Massachusetts Bottle Bill, a good thing, could be made even better.
