Twin Meadow Home owner Joseph Tremblay meets with the East Longmeadow Town Council.
Photo credit: ELCAT01028
EAST LONGMEADOW — An East Longmeadow business owner is taking a swing toward obtaining a restaurant license from the Town Council to open a newly proposed, alcohol serving indoor golf simulator.
The council reorganized positions and welcomed applicant Joseph Tremblay to discuss the proposed business at its meeting on July 14.
Council President Connor O’Shea nominated Councilor Ralph Page to serve as Town Council president for the next year, which passed unanimously. O’Shea still acted as president for this meeting at Page’s request.
“It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve all of you and the town as a whole for the last two years,” O’Shea said. “I can’t believe how quickly it went by, but I feel like we’ve done a lot of good work. It’s hard to remember all of the things that we’ve done sometimes because you’re always chasing the next agenda, but I think the town is in a good position and I have no doubt that we’ll continue to do great work.”
The council then opened the restaurant license public hearing for Tremblay, who is a partner and owner of Twin Meadow Home. Twin Meadow Home is a design and home furnishings company at 45 Baldwin St., Suite A.
The golf simulator is proposed in the same space as Twin Meadow Home and would include eight golf bays and a four person “waiting bar” to serve alcohol, coffee and non-alcoholic drinks, according to Tremblay.
The town bylaw’s liquor license rules require establishments to sell some form of food alongside alcohol service, and O’Shea asked Tremblay what his plan would be.
Tremblay said it would be light snacks with no kitchen, such as pretzels, chips and potential microwavable options like nachos and frozen pizza.
Councilor Kathleen Hill asked the council if it would require a common victualer license, which is a mandatory permit required for any Massachusetts business that cooks, prepares and serves food to the public.
Town Manager Tom Christensen said Tremblay was trying to avoid that by not having a kitchen, and Page added that using a microwave or a toaster is still serving food to the public.
Tremblay added onto Christensen’s point and said he wanted to have some food available without needing the license, adding that architects told him needing a full kitchen would be “basically impossible.”
He said “keep the light snacks available where it’s not actual food preparation, that’s what we’re going for.”
Page said he had concerns based on zoning bylaws that don’t allow a bar, tavern or a “lounge,” and that there are restaurant permits for all-alcoholic businesses.
“Without food service, I mean, it’s specifically stated when we do it that you have to serve food at all times that alcohol is available,” Page said. “We’ve had issues with this, and I know we have other recreational facilities like Shaker Bowl … it’s a recreational facility but they also serve full food. That’s the way it’s always been done, and I would have a hard time looking to change from that.”
Page added it wouldn’t fall under “golf recreation” because it’s not in the golf recreation district.
“I assume this would be a recreational facility, commercial or private,” Page said. “In Industrial Garden Park, you do need a special permit for it.”
Tremblay said he would be happy to satisfy whatever rules needed upon obtaining a special permit, and that customers would be given UberEats or Grubhub gift cards to order food during their stay.
“They don’t have to order food if they’re not hungry,” Tremblay said. “They have the option to have food delivered right to the doorstep. That is part of the idea there to circumvent needing to put a kitchen in.”
Christensen said there was a similar situation at the East Longmeadow High School concession stand, and that it still counts as giving out food even if someone else is bringing it in. He suggested a meeting with the Health Department to figure out “where the line is” and how to not impact the space with a full commercial kitchen.
Page said the business should be a restaurant since the council would be giving a restaurant license, and that there is a difference between a food service and a restaurant.
“Unless the council at some point chooses to allow what we haven’t, whether it be taverns, bars, lounges,” Page said. “I think that would be a conversation that we had with the Planning Department … if you’re drinking alcohol, we want you to be able to consume food which takes up some of it and offsets it.”
O’Shea said the business is a great idea and that he doesn’t have a problem with it, but that there is a “gray area” in terms of what the town currently allows “legally versus the line that we’re trying to find in the sand.”
He said “I’m not opposed to it, but I don’t know that we could approve it even conditionally tonight without doing a little more research and working with [Tremblay] on that.”
Tremblay said he isn’t seeking any favors or to “set a new precedent,” but would like to see the business work out for the betterment of the town and the building.
“It’s really an ancillary part just as a most must have when you’re golfing,” Tremblay said. “I feel like I have to at least try to make this work because that’s really the primary thing you’re doing when you’re golfing, is you’re socializing with your friends and a lot of times having a drink.”
He said he would research what he needs to get it off the ground, and include a kitchen as a “very last resort.” He added that he visited other businesses similar to this one and that food is just a convenience more than a primary, and that people are mostly just focused on the golf.
O’Shea added that the council could explore modifying the bylaw if it came down to it, but still prohibiting uses that are strictly related to a drinking atmosphere.
He said “maybe there’s something we could do if that’s like an ancillary use to some other activity that’s occurring in a commercial space.”
Former Councilor Marilyn Richards attended the meeting and said serving food with alcohol is the responsible thing to do, bylaw aside. She said “I hope there’s a path to success because I think it’s a great idea.”
The public hearing continues at the Town Council’s meeting on Aug. 11 at 6:15 p.m.
