NO VA Beer for Farm Market
Words Allison Hurwitz
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 at 1:07 am
I’m sad and a little confused to report how the Norfolk City Council voted this evening—with Mayor Paul Fraim casting the deciding “nay”—to not grant the Five Points Community Farm Market the special exemption ABC license it needs to sell Virginia-made wine and beers.
The market was asking so it could sell room-temperature Virginia-produced craft beer and wine (no forties, etc.) in its 2500 Church St space, no later than 7pm.
There’s really only a very few products that fall in this category and the price tags would on be on the high end ($22 wine) compared to bordering convenience stores.
The decision hinged on the neighboring community’s resistance. The major reasons sited were worry that their children would be buying beer and wine there; that the particular zone has never in its history allowed alcohol sales; that this would be a “snowball-effect,” with all businesses being able to get an exemption; and that how could they know Bev and the market were’nt going to just start selling whatever they wanted or use the sales as a way to make money.
The arguments seemed steeped in tradition and although I couldn’t see the logic in how this could possibly harm the community, I could sense the depth of their fear. Still, it was pretty hard to stay in my seat and keep quiet when one opponent said something to the effect of No one goes into business except to make money; who would want to help the community and have this business, wouldn’t they be a police officer?
At this I wanted to pop up and shout, “Bev! Bev would do it! Bev and the Five Points crew are the poster children for selflessness and a focus on community-buliding and respect. Are you serious!?
I’ll go into the council meeting in more detail tomorrow. Intense stuff.
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I admit that I don’t know much about the ABC laws in Virginia, but I know enough that they do their best to make it as difficult as possible for someone who enjoys beer, (and I dont mean in the frat boy way). This is one subject that is hard to debate in favor of because the minute you do, your an “alcoholic” or some kind of party monster. It’s a shame.
did agnes lovejoy speak against the exemption? was the phrase “think of the children!” used?
i suppose i can understand some community fear, but that doesn’t seem to take into account the community nature of the farm market. i’m sure as an idea it is one that needs time to take hold, with the farm market hopefully sticking around for awhile in its current location and residents developing an understanding of its purpose and how it actively supports local independents instead of flooding us with more international corporate product.
that “businesses exist to make money” argument is deeply depressing to me. it seems indicative of a type of thinking i hear in this area in different contexts. it shuts itself off to new ideas with a self-protective negativity that is very hard to penetrate. just think the worst of everything and nothing can ever work or change things and tell yourself that you are being “wise” or “pragmatic” instead of “vacantly cynical”.
if the exemption was granted and it did start a snowball effect i would be pleased. it would be wonderful to be inundated with local outlets making a point of supporting local independent product. pricey, premium craft beers are not the products that perpetuate alcohol problems in the community. that’s what four loko is for.
as a random tangent, when i get into local conversations like this, i have to cringe a bit in how often i wind up using the word “community”. it turns into just a verbalized pause or something.
The “snow ball effect” strategy. How interesting. I advise against it in argument papers in my Comp. class, as it’s a logical fallacy, designed to appeal to emotion rather than ideas.
Again, how is this a problem? The kids are going to be like “what, you ain’t got no Colt 45?”.
Seriously though, if their location has been Ghent or Downtown, this wouldn’t even be an issue with the council members.
it would be nice if the norfolk we mythologize existed beyond ghent and downtown. church street has such a rich history, including the church street five that changed rock n’ roll and had a big influence on springsteen and the wonderful attucks theatre that has hosted pretty much the gamut of awesome 20th century american musicians. it would be a shame if we wrote it off as a “don’t bother” neighborhood. especially seeing as i, along with most of the norfolk population, cannot currently afford to live in ghent or downtown. the farm market is for the people, and shouldn’t need to move to a lofty but expensive and culturally trendy neighborhood. just as it supports community products, it should be in the heart of a community, and i like the old norview and current church street locations for that reason.