The town’s ban on alcohol on the Guilford Green can be lifted with an event waiver, but the Guilford Art Center’s (GAC) recent request to the Board of Selectmen (BOS) for a waiver for its summer Craft Expo raised the question of how many exceptions to the alcohol policy the town is willing to consider.

Consuming alcohol on all property owned by the town is prohibited by town ordinance, but for certain events, the BOS has the power to make an exception, if a group applies for a waiver and it is granted. GAC was the first group to receive a waiver a few years ago under the previous town administration.

After GAC’s initial request, the BOS asked the Guilford Police Department (GPD) to come up with a policy to regulate the sale and consumption of alcohol on the green. The policy, which applies to any event on the green that has received a waiver from the BOS, outlines the area in which alcohol can be served and who can serve.

According to the policy, alcohol can only be served in an area cordoned off from the main event with a single point of entry and exit to prohibit individuals from taking alcohol into the main event space. Individuals serving alcohol have to be Training for Intervention Procedures (TIPS) trained, a type of certification and training acquired by bartenders and other servers that teaches individuals how to spot a fake ID and how to know when an individual has had too much to drink.

GAC recently came before the BOS seeking an exception to the policies developed by the police department. GAC wanted to allow people of all ages into the cordoned-off area so that individuals, regardless of age, could sit together in the drinking area. GAC also asked that the requirement for wristbands, to be issued to those of drinking age, be eliminated. The GAC had received a waiver for the seating and positive ID practice before, but the wristband request was new.

First Selectman Matt Hoey said both he and Guilford Police Chief Jeff Hutchinson have some concerns about supporting broader and broader waiver requests to the policy in place.

“My position is I am not comfortable taking anything away that has already been granted by this board,” he said. “The question...is, do we continue to approve waivers to the policy that this board adopted to a point that basically negates the policy? We are pretty close to that particular point.”

Maureen Belden of GAC and Dee Jacob of the Marketplace at the Guilford Food Center—which will be selling food, beer, and wine at the event—once again presented the request to the BOS. Jacob said the intention of the waiver request isn’t to undercut the policy as a whole.

“The waiver is for the event,” she said. “It doesn’t change the guidelines at all.”

Hoey said he understands the ask and made it clear that the town has never had any issue with the Craft Expo. The police have not reported any incidents and the event is considered to be well managed. However, Hoey said the real concern is precedent.

“One of the challenges in making exceptions to waivers is that you are doing so at the request of a certain organization,” he said. “There are potentially other organizations who might have desire to use the green for similar purposes for whom we might not feel as comfortable relaxing those waivers so the challenge becomes for us what we do for one most likely has to apply for everyone. Unfortunately there is a consideration that not everyone is going to have the level of responsibility that you folks have exhibited.”

The BOS voted to approve the waiver as approved last year, meaning the wristbands will be in place for this year’s event.