Blue Hill Avenue bodega denied beer license because there are already so many packies within a short walk

The Boston Licensing Board today rejected a request from Cristian Market, 411 Blue Hill Ave. in Grove Hall, to add beer to its inventory, because of overwhelming opposition from nearby residents about the already easy access to beer at six other stores within a half mile.

The board denied owner Cristian Alexander Lopez's request without prejudice, which means he can reapply within the next year - but board members cautioned they're going to need some proof that Lopez will be offering something unique enough that he has garnered at least some neighborhood support for the refrigerator stocked with beer he wants to add.

At a hearing yesterday, Lopez said what would differentiate his beer sales is that, unlike all the packies, he would be offering beer as a complement to the food he also sells. He added many of his customers have mobility issues and that he would offer them easier access to beer. "Eight months of the year Boston's in a chokehold with ice," he argued.

At a voting session today, however, board members all said they found his arguments for the "public need" for beer there weak, especially when combined with a poorly presented floor plan of just where the beer would be located in the store.

"I don't believe we can force these on a neighborhood where there is so much opposition," board Chairwoman Kathleen Joyce said. Board member Liam Curran agreed, saying that had the plans shown something unique to the neighborhood, "we would at least see some people piping in" with support.