Two eateries in the Fells Point neighborhood will be allowed to serve alcohol after Baltimore’s liquor board voted to approve licenses for the businesses over objections from neighbors.
More than a dozen residents of the historic waterfront community raised concerns Thursday about proposals to serve beer, wine and cocktails at Sacré Sucré, a bakery that recently relocated to Fell Street, and at a new, Ernest Hemingway-themed concept from Atlas Restaurant Group that’s in the works on Thames Street.
Community protests are not uncommon at liquor board hearings, where concerned residents often share fears of added noise, traffic congestion, trash and safety woes should a new business start serving alcohol. But Thursday’s protests, both of which followed months of simmering tensions, took on a different tenor with organized petition drives seeking to compel the liquor board to deny the licenses.
Ultimately, neither effort garnered enough signatures to cross a threshold that would trigger an automatic denial of the licenses under state law, which requires opposition from more than half of the property owners within 200 feet of a business seeking a liquor license.
Representatives and supporters of both Sacré Sucré and the Atlas concept said their goal is to improve the neighborhood by filling vacancies and offering new places to gather.
“We are blessed to have them because their caliber is so high,” Beth Hawks, the owner of Fells Point shop Zelda Zen, said of Sacré Sucré. “We need to encourage more investment in the city.” She also wrote a letter to the board in support of the Atlas project.
Some neighbors, however, said they felt frustrated by ever-expanding alcohol options in a neighborhood already known for its nightlife.
“I’ve watched Fells Point develop into something very beautiful and I’ve watched it develop into something very ugly at nighttime,” said Jimette Thanos, a 44-year resident. “It’s an alcohol-fueled neighborhood now … The only one who pays the price are the residents.”
Sacré Sucré
When French bakery Sacré Sucré moved from its former home of 5½ years on Fleet Street to a much larger space at 933 Fell St., owners Dane Thibodeaux and Manuel Sanchez decided to apply to add drinks to the mix.
“We thought it would be nice to have one of the desserts with a cocktail or a glass of wine or beer, because a lot of our desserts could be paired with different beverages,” Thibodeaux explained.
Neighbors of the bake shop’s new location, which opened in January, told the liquor board they don’t completely object to alcohol served on the first floor of Sacré Sucré, where there’s seating capacity for nearly 140 people. They are concerned, however, that Thibodeaux and Sanchez might expand the bakery’s footprint — and its impact on a mostly residential stretch — with a second-floor event space.
“We are completely fine with what they are,” said next-door neighbor Nicolas Jabko, but “we are not fine with what they could become when given a liquor license without restrictions.”
Residents also wanted to see limits on the hours of operation — late-night hours would mean “what is a bakery becomes a bar,” argued neighbor Mark Berman — and a promise that Sacré Sucré would only use one of its two entrances.
The community and the bakery’s owners have gone “back and forth” on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) formalizing those requests, said Fells Point Residents Association president Kate Simms, but negotiations stalled “mostly because we couldn’t get a clear plan for their business operations.”
Melvin Kodenski, an attorney for Sanchez and Thibodeaux, said a second-floor event space wasn’t part of the bakery’s license application and that the owners were unwilling to limit their hours or access points.
“They can’t agree on anything, so there’s no sense to have an MOU,” he said.
Liquor board chair Albert Matricciani and the rest of the board voted to approve a liquor license for Sacré Sucré on the condition that it continue negotiations with its new neighbors. They’ll need to reach out to the board with an update in 60 days.
Atlas bar and restaurant
A minute’s walk from the bakery, Atlas, which already operates 20 drinking and dining spots in Baltimore, has plans for another project at 1704 Thames St.
The bar and restaurant will take over the building, as well as an attached courtyard, for a “Key West, Hemingway-style experience” with about 30 indoor seats, as well as outdoor table service, Atlas CEO Alex Smith told the board. (Smith and his brother Eric Smith, a co-owner of Atlas Restaurant Group, are nephews of Baltimore Sun owner David D. Smith, who is a partner in some Atlas restaurants.)
Much of Thursday’s hearing about the new concept was mired in discussion about technicalities. Neighbors who object to the project are especially concerned about the courtyard space, according to letters submitted to the board, but Matricciani declined to hear their testimony because the license application only covers the indoor area (Atlas is in the process of consolidating the building and outdoor lot).
A petition opposing the project collected 55 signatures, said Denice Ko, an attorney with the Community Law Center who is representing Fells Point residents. In letters to the board, some neighbors complained of loud sounds coming from two nearby Atlas properties — the Waterfront Hotel, as well as from The Choptank, which faced a challenge to its liquor license in 2021 over noise complaints.
The courtyard “has the potential to become a large outdoor bar/party space that would have severe adverse effects on residential neighbors,” wrote Eben Hansel, whose house backs up to the proposed bar. He argued an MOU is necessary to manage noise, crowd size, hours of operation and distance between the bar and residences.
Hansel’s wife, Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman, attended the hearing with him but did not speak.
Smith said he reached out to neighbors to offer what he called “the most restrictive MOU proposed by us in Fells Point history,” promising the courtyard would close by 10 p.m. and would not host live music, among other pledges.
Relations between the restaurant group and neighbors opposed to the project have soured, however, after several residents received letters from Atlas’ lawyer threatening legal action over their objections to the project.
Amy Petkovsek, another attorney with the Community Law Center, said the group is concerned the letters will have a “chilling effect” on opposition to the project and said she was disappointed the liquor board declined to hear testimony about them. “That will only continue to disempower communities across the city,” she said.
After the meeting, Smith defended the letters, saying Atlas was losing money due to the delays. “What we’re trying to let them know is we have real damages, and we hope to work out something with them,” he said.
The restaurant group will have to appear again before the liquor board for permission to serve alcohol in the courtyard, though no hearing has been set. Smith said the bar and restaurant likely will not open until the courtyard is licensed for alcohol sales, too.
