Friends of Capron Zoo Overcome First Hurdle to Serve Booze

The Friends of have been before the city's Park Commission, Liquor Licensing Board and the Attleboro Committee on Licenses to state their case for a waiver on a city ordinance that bans alcohol on city-owned property. 

The request is based on a  

The committee voted to approve the waiver by Friends of Capron Zoo Brian Hatch and Joseph Hall, who went before the committee on Tuesday night. The vote to approve the request for a waiver out of committee was not done without a lengthy discussion. The request will now go before the Attleboro City Council. 

City Councilors Walter Thibodeau and Cherie Felos expressed concerns about the request, saying it would not be fair to approve the waiver for one organization and not another.

Thibodeau also had concerns with safety and security at the event, if it were to include alcohol. His concern came after Hall said: "last time I was here I made the impression we’d only sell 100 tickets, but we’ll sell as many tickets as possible."

Thibodeu was adamant that the requirement of having a police detail at the event, if seen fit by Attleboro Acting Police Chief Kyle Heagney, should be written into the motion. 

There was discussion on whether a paid police detail was necessary after a certain number of attendees. The committee informally agreed that it should be left up to the Acting Police Chief. 

Currently, organizations that use must hire a fire detail if there are 200 people in the auditorium. More than 500 requires a hired police detail. 

Councilor Brian Kirby said he was less concerned about a detail at the event and was more concerned with having traffic details if the event should sell hundreds of tickets. 

Hall agreed that having a police detail would be a good idea.

"If we are going to have a lot of folks there it behooves us to have a police detail," he said. "It’s an expense we’ll just have to budget for–We believe in public safety too."

Thibodeau also suggested a public hearing on the subject, but Councilor President Frank Cook and City Councilors Richard Conti and Peter Blais said they didn't believe one was necessary. Heagney said it would be setting the wrong precedent. 

"Whether or not we are setting a precedent I don’t care," Thibodeau said. "We should exhaust every tool that we have to be sure it is a proper decision. Just because we like the idea and like the group that wants to do it doesn’t mean the decision to approve an event will play out to be the right thing to have done."

Thibodeau said he would table his request for a public hearing when the motion was before the City Council on Tuesday, May 31.