good afternoon we're going to give just a moment to clear the waiting room and make sure that folks have connected to audio and can hear us yes I can hear you thank you very much as a reminder when you are entering from the waiting room please do remain on mute unless or until uh you are appearing or testifying before the entertainment division good afternoon this is an administrative hearing before the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing today is Thursday May 16th 2024 this hearing is being conducted pursuant to Temporary amendments to the open meeting law that is what allows us to meet virtually this hearing is being recorded and will be posted to the city of Boston's website we're joined today by the executive director of the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing Kathleen Joyce I will read each item on today's agenda into the record in the order that they appear I will then ask who is present on behalf of the applicant you'll make a brief presentation regarding your proposal followed by questions by the entertainment Division and there will be an opportunity for Testimony beginning with elected officials or their representatives for members of the public wishing to provide testimony please limit your testimony to two minutes and please state your name address and affiliation if any the first item on this afternoon's agenda is MVC 40b LLC doing business as the revolution hotel located at 40 Berkeley Street the application before the entertainment division is to add the entertainment categories of disc jockey dancing by patrons up to four instrumentalists and up to three vocalists to the existing non-live entertainment license daily until 1 amm who's present on behalf of the applicant uh good afternoon thank you attorney green uh Sher Joyce Trish Farnsworth with Lawson and Whitson on behalf of the Revolution hotel and also on the call is uh Jack bardy who would be the manager on this um license and really the operator and as well as jacquin F Tink who's the um uh general manager right now um well con's on maternity leave at the hotel so just um I'll let Jack explain you know really the concept and all but I wanted to kind of set it up um generally you know this is the revolution Hotel um um and right now there's a restaurant there cosmica that Jack operates under a management agreement that's on the first floor there's a basement level that does have the non-live license as attorney green mentioned um know there is some private events and some things down there but they want to um recast that make it more of an amenity for both the hotel guests and the um the neighbors as well um and Jack will explain that concept but we need live entertainment for that primarily a disc jockey um but um we would also be seeking instrumentals up to four and up to three vocals and then we also um included dancing that would be really an incidental there is no dance floor um but primarily like we said for a DJ but we want to really have the flexibility um for private events and and and the like um there is a 2 am alcohol license um at the hotel this entertainment would be 400 pm to 1:00 am. 7even days a week um for purposes of Outreach we did um work with on back in January there was an AB butter meeting um Kim Cuchi um held that um because we also needed zoning relief which is we're still in the process of so so um that was held and um I think well attended and um the presentation went well there really wasn't any opposition and I think actually even one of butter sent an email in h favor to the to the liquor licensing board saying they were in favor um I think the um there was also Outreach to the Ellis South End uh neighborhood association and um councelor Flynn there was a phone call with him on 322 and uh he's in support as well of both the zing and the entertainment license um on March 26 there was the zba hearing itself um unanimous vote at of approval at that hearing uh there was a written decision um submitted mcder D and Miller and Hanley um handled the zoning piece of it and um we're just waiting for a signing of that written decision and then as you know there's a you know brief appeal period and such um but we're are here today because we want to be ready to go as soon as we get that zoning uh we would hope um and you know be ready to go with this um there Jack can go into this more too but there is appropriate sound proofing again it's in the basement there are windows but they don't open and um they will have some acoustical draperies um so that provides some sound proofing and there's other sound proofing that um has been put in place um I think that's really the overview so I can turn it to Jack to kind of just tell you more about um the operation of the concept this is Jack B in addition to operating the restaurant Cosa in in the hotel I also own The Beehive Restaurant around the corner we're uh we're well experienced and well versed in having live entertainment in a controlled manner I I think uh We've operated for 17 years with live music at the Beehive without in without incident this uh this uh operation that we plan to do in the basement of the hotel is really um a lounge atmosphere where we want to have a very uh curated music selection by you know what's called DJs just um really musicologists that have really something to say with music so there'll be um a very select range of Music in a in a calm Lounge type of atmosphere and we like the flexibility with some instrumentation and other entertainment once in a while to have some other interesting entertainment all all in control we're we're in a hotel so we could never have it be too loud we're putting a lot of effort into sound attenuation in the space acoustical treatment um you know again we have a natural restriction of it ever getting um too loud because there's Hotel guests sleeping in in the restaurant and they maybe um restaurant events weddings and so so forth and in this space that we like the flexibility to have the range of entertainment as well liquor liquor service there's a bar the food will be serviced from the the existing restaurant on kitchen that's in the hotel okay um do you mind if I jump in just with a couple questions um either Jack or Trish are these just events is this P this space primarily just for um events or I know you mentioned Weddings But at the beginning chish talked about events in the basement or is this going to be entertainment you have on a regular basis is a regular basis all right and you're requesting what you're requesting today is just for the basement of the hotel yes yes okay no live entertainment anywhere else in the restaurant or the hotel not in cosm not in the hotel not above the ground floor nowhere else basement correct okay you mentioned the um the sound proofing and the acoustical treatment can you send us a copy of what exactly you're doing for the The Sound Treatment just so we have it on file should there be complaints and speaking of that should issues arrive with neighbors or Butters or a Butters who would they contact on the premise and would it be by email or [Music] phone they can always call in right right away if there's ever an issue they can call the restaurant or the hotel and will act Pro promptly um also through email or any other means they can contact the hotel or the or the restaurant okay some sometimes depending on what your neighbors are like which is another question sometimes it's good to have a 24-hour contact so that in real time you can turn it down granted yes I know the hotel is above you but yes we get a lot of noise complaints and sometimes it's easier to resolve them directly with the complainer um that's fine and really Connie is um around so so Jacqueline is um do you have a 24-hour contact that we can provide or we can follow up later as well but the hotel is staff 24 hours okay yes the hotel is staff for 24 hours as far as a 24-hour single contact I can get back to you on that uh we can re we can revisit that um but even after hours we do have a security company that is here overnight for any issues that arise as well okay um what is the expected capacity in the basement or what is it it's it's approximately 150 okay that's that's pre-existing okay we had that makes sense we had 156 um and then so other than the hotel guest what kind of a Butters do you have is it residential commercial a mix of both it's a mix of both but um you know we we're sort of on the Block the hotel is on the block by itself but there's there's some you know the neighboring Appleton Street and uh the other side the other side of the building there's another residential street primarily and then across the street is commercial okay the of Berkeley on the other side of Berkeley is commer yeah thanks thanks to Rebecca Fu who isn't able to join us today she gives us these questions which you're probably thinking like how I don't already know this but we go through realistic question so we can write up our decision so bear with me as I go through Rebecca's helpful no absolutely question um as far as age groups um do you restrict ages after certain hours or certain days is it over 21 or 18 and over or what is it this will be over 21 this will be over okay um and I know you did mention it how many um instrumental vocalists is it seven you said no no uh four instrumental well four instrumental three vocal so seven yeah sorry and then will you be using promoters uh I don't think so we've I don't have any experience with promoters okay if you do use promoters please notify the board okay um what do you mean by promoters like a like a like hiring someone to have like a theme night yeah sell tickets you know okay um we see more and more of that in the city and we want to make sure who you're using as a promoter is familiar with the rules and regulations and understand their responsibilities right we we would it would be unlikely would never we would never turn over the operation to to I've never used anything like that but yes we will we will if it comes up okay um if you wouldn't mind submitting a security plan um dispersal plan an emergency and operations plan so we can have that on file as well um you mentioned you have overnight security staff will you have security staff at this lower level just assigned like on a for for the entertainment nights and stuff presently we don't have that scheduled on the hotel side but I'll let Jack speak to his side yeah the the restaurant will will have um always have door Personnel yes okay um do you have cameras on the premise yes okay um and when you submit the floor plan if you could um identify where those cameras are it's helpful to us and then given that we're having live entertainment oftentimes people leave around the same time include some information about a dispersal plan how you going to avoid people loitering and lingering outside as they wait for ride chairs um is there a specific spot around the perimeter of your premise that you have for ride chairs um just something that shows you thought this through and that you have some sort of plan in place um and Danny have I missed anything I believe the only question question we haven't gotten to is will there ever be cover charges for any entertainment activities yeah yes there may be yes okay um that that needs to be on the face of your license so if you're requesting that we'll make sure we include that okay and that's all do you have any further questions uh Dr D I don't know okay with that we'll see if there are any individuals with us who would like to provide testimony on this matter beginning with elected officials or their representatives yes Madam chair Conor Newan with the mayor's office of Neighborhood Services this time the mayor s like to defer to your judgment um some backg information in the community process as you heard from the applican representation um at a Butter's meeting was hosted by o on January 17th um I understand that it was well attended um just the only kind of consistent requests from residents in abutters was just that it not be Extremely Loud um the events um but no other concerns were raised beyond that um and I understand that the Ellis neighborhood association was made aware of this proposal and the applicant was in contact with them uh with that will defer to the board at this time thank you thank you are there any other individuals with us who would like to provide testimony on this item seeing none the entertainment division will take this matter under advisement and will issue a written decision thank you very much great thank you we'll get you those items that you requested Thanks that'll be great thank you perfect thanks the next item on this afternoon's agenda is mighty squirrel Brewing Co doing business as mighty squirrel Fenway LLC located at one David Ortiz Drive the application before the entertainment division is to add the entertainment categories of table games dancing by patrons trivia floor show up to eight instrumentalists and up to eight vocalists to the existing non-live entertainment license daily until 1:00 a.m. who's present on behalf of the applicant good afternoon Tyler Hensler from Upton canal and develin on behalf of Mighty squirrel also with me is George Warren from mighty squirrel uh we are here to again add live entertainment uh the categories of table games trivia uh eight instrumentalists eight vocalists dancing by patrons a floor show and we're asking for this uh daily until 1:00 a.m. um the space there is very large uh and therefore very versatile and we are contemplating both the entertainment that we currently have planned and some possible events that we may hold in the future hence the reason why we're casting a very broad net with the live entertainment licensing here um I'll add that we arrived at selecting these specific live entertainment options by basically just copying exactly what events are held at the mighty squirrel wallam Tap Room uh they've been very successful in operating there and they look to replicate that by holding events that they have experience with in the Fenway Tap Room um and I'll go through each one the table games you know for scra Scrabble and Jenga my personal favorite yatsi uh to be played while enjoying uh beer and some food at the tables um the occasional trivia night that speaks for itself uh the eight instrumentalists and eight vocalists uh that's to allow for any size local band to play um I know that that number seems large um but uh eight and eight I I don't imagine we'll ever have an orchestra that big George you can back me up here but I think again that was just in the interest yeah well I think the eight vocalists was just to accommodate if we wanted an AC capella group to come in okay yeah so not a a giant rock band Orchestra so that's that's good news um and finally the dancing oh sorry the floor show in case there's like a magician or or something that that we we we found as as more of a catch all they've had oneoff events like that before I think there was a puppet show um and then finally dancing by patrons to ensure that we are in compliance if patrons start dancing in the uh the small area in front of the stage uh the live music stage uh but this dancing will obviously be limited in scope um and there's not going to be any dance parties or or uh any any sort of nightclub approach uh if you know that that's not anticipated uh we're ask there is no no dance I was just gonna say there's no dance floor and there's no intention of ever adding a dance floor so right more just in case uh you know dancing just happens right yeah um and we are asking for a 1 am time but this again is to provide provide maximum flexibility uh as the space is very strong from the Viewpoint of holding special events uh but again George can back me up I don't I don't anticipate going to 1: am very often uh especially with the live music yeah I mean t typically we we run until about 11:00 p.m. um and so similar in wall them when we have bands bands actually don't even play till 11 typically but again we're just trying to keep the flexibility as wide as possible but um we plan to operate this very similar to uh our space in wallam right um again they've been very successful there um for the sound vibrations and and sound emanation uh they have a state of-the-art brand new building uh with soundproofing insallation on on the ceilings they also uh above them they are built in sort of the ground floor of a residential building but there's a buffer buffer zone of the Easter stand eastern standard restaurant between them uh we applied in mid-march for uh one day live entertainment licenses for their grand opening uh which went down without hitch we received no complaints there was I think a four-person band playing uh for a few hours and they were they were out of there at a reasonable hour Tyler just not to interrupt you but can you spit it a little a little bit of a a paragraph about the sound mitigation sound proofing just what you said right now just so we have that on record about the ab absolutely yeah um I'll write down sound very helpful what you said I just want to make sure we captured it all yeah absolutely um yeah I I'll can I send that via email yeah and then include who would the who the contact person would be um should there be any issues with neighbors whether it be email phone and person's name so that if we get complaints we can um recommend they contact you guys directly great and I'll add on sound demition and I can include this in the paragraph there are no outdoor speakers um so everything will be contained within that soundproofed area Okay um finally for let's see oh community outreach we were in contact with the mayor's office of Neighborhood Services after filing this live entertainment application uh they were satisfied with the Outreach we'd already conducted for the initial opening which uh included live entertainment that was always part of the the overall concept um same with the Fenway civic association we attended that meeting in November uh was well attended very supportive and at that meeting we made it clear Our intention was to add live entertainment shortly after opening um with that we're happy to take any questions and we thank the board for its time did anyone from the Fenway Civic meeting have any issues or questions or oppos position um concerns not uh I I I only hesitate because it was not particular to uh mighty squirrel as an operator but more Global approach trash uh they wanted to make sure Ubers would would be uh you know not an issue they wanted to make sure that we wouldn't be too crowded during games just sort of uh more more Global Neighborhood issues but nothing with the uh the live entertainment they were very satisfied that you know would be contained inside it's not a super residential area it's sort of there's a parking lot on one side so um no issues okay and just want to confirm that your land landlord permits this type of entertainment yes I believe it's in the I can double check but uh the the landlord is very aware of the concept we were working very closely with them yeah we just like to check have people check the lease and confirm for us um and you may have mentioned it what is the expected capacity uh George can you help me out there I think it's yeah our posted capacity is 570 but 570 it's it's an enormous space okay and George are you the manager uh I'm I am I'm the VP of operations and Henry Manis is the manager of record okay um and what's his experience managing entertainment places like this walam oh the wam one okay um and how long long have you been in walam uh well we've been in walam since 2018 um and I've I've been running operations uh since 2014 for my S okay and do you restrict age after a certain hour or is it all ages um it is all ages um we there have been certain times where we've where we've restricted age um you know when we've done New Year's Eve uh thing uh like that but uh Whenever there when there are busy days like in Fenway when anytime there's a game day uh we have door people uh you know monitoring who's coming in and everyone is carded you know at the bar every single time that they that they get a drink okay yeah it I'll jump in there it is a very familyfriendly space um again board games uh and puppet shows uh but again everyone is carded at the point of service yeah there there you'll see on a weekend you'll see you could probably count more strollers than the fingers on your hands uh in our space yeah okay um so no promoters will be used we have never we've never used a promoter um we I I I wouldn't even know how to go about using a promoter but if should we ever Venture down that road than than U as the previous people said we will uh let you guys know beforeand okay and cover charges do you have cover charges for certain events we've never we've never done a cover charge um it's not fully out of the question of maybe do using uh one of our uh smaller like event rooms to have maybe a a cover charge for a very special small music uh program there but um again these are these are all potential future things nothing that we've done uh as normal program okay so you're requesting the ability to have a cover charge because we have to put that on the face of your license if that's the case I I I guess so um if you're if you're if you're planning on on maybe on like a New Year's Eve or a special event charging a cover even once a year we should just we should just say yes and have yeah that way if you ever get inspected it's not an issue sure that sounds great thanks okay and then if you could submit it sounds like a great spa space and huge I'd love to have your security plan your dispersal plan your emergency and operations plan on file sure and um do you have security staff I believe oh go ahead George yeah we do on U select days and select times of day um you know on a on a Monday U without a game uh there there would be no need for um a specific security staff there uh but we have um staff for game days and event days around Fenway when we know we're going to be busy okay do you have cameras we have cameras that cover every inch of the entire space except for the bathrooms of course okay so if it's that many cameras I don't need a full map but if you could put in a couple sentences how many cameras you have you know something more than we have 500 camer 200 cameras just so yeah it's it's like 40 some odd cameras and so but we can provide that yeah um and then it's probably similar to your discussion with Fenway um your dispersal plan and how do you avoid loitering by patrons and and ride shares kind of clustering in the neighborhood um yeah just to speak on that we will absolutely submit a plan for the dispersal plan but um where that's located David Ortiz and I believe it's matland Road it's very um there's not a lot there so there's there's plenty of room for Ubers to to kind of pull off to the side um but again it's not like uh an MGM or a House of Blues where everyone's leaving at the same time okay it's more of a come and go um even even with the live entertainment it's it's not um you know an event that ends and everyone leaves uh it's more of a free flowing fluid sort of atmosphere but yeah we will absolutely submit that and even when we get to towards closing time uh people have sort of filtered out over the course of a couple hours and so we don't really ever see that that mass Exodus of people leaving that makes sense PNY have I forgotten anything think you've covered everything you have any further questions at this time but that we will turn to testimony are there any individuals present with us who would like to provide testimony beginning with elected officials or their representatives yes Madam chair Conor Newman with the mayor's office of Neighborhood Services this time the mayor's off like to refer to your judgment um some background information the community process can confirm uh on had the applicant fly when they're going through their initial um request to open um and that they were in contact with the Fenway Civic um in last November and we're very upfront about seeking uh the entertainment aspect um with the uh with this business model we're unaware of any concerns at this time I related to entertainment with that would defer to the board thank you thank you are there any other individuals who would like to testify on this matter right with that I know that there will be an open comment period on this item that will run until I believe May 27th so the entertainment division will take this matter under advisement as well and will issue a written decision at the close of the comment period thank you very much thank you those are all the items before the entertainment division this afternoon so that we'll adjourn this hearing thank you all and enjoy the rest of your day thank you for your time thank you