Massachusetts town to hold special election on one issue - a potential ban of mini liquor bottles
PLYMOUTH - A potential ban on miniature bottles of alcohol is up for a vote in Plymouth this month.
A drive around Plymouth and you'll see plenty of "No On 1" signs.
"I enjoy 'em, you know?" said longtime resident Paul Abraham.
He's talking about miniature liquor bottles. A potential ban on them has sparked quite a debate in this coastal town, an initiative spearheaded by resident Dr. Ken Stone.
"We picked up 14,000 nips in four days of cleanups," said Stone.
While the Plymouth Town Meeting approved a ban on mini liquor bottles in October, a local package store owner is fighting back – putting the issue up for a special townwide vote on Jan. 13.
"A business like mine could expect to lose anywhere from 15 to 40 percent of its business and that would obviously call for laying off some staff," Pioppi's Package Store owner Peter Balboni said.
An estimated hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue, Balboni explained. "But when they ban the nips, the person buying that nip is going to usually purchase beer, cigarettes, lottery, wine. That entire sale would be leaving the store."
A YES vote would ban the sale of mini liquor bottles in Plymouth.
A NO vote would allow these travel-sized bottles to remain on store shelves.
Communities like Chelsea, Falmouth and Newton have similar bans in place. Stone said litter isn't the only concern.
"That's a part of where the problem drinking comes on," Stone said. "You find the majority of these along roads in our town."
"You see scratch tickets on the road, empty Coke cans on the road," Abraham said. "You see everything on the road, so I'm firmly going to vote no."
"No solution solves all the problem, but it'll make a major difference," Stone argued.
The Plymouth Town Clerk estimated that the special referendum could cost taxpayers upwards of $57,000. Early voting starts at Town Hall on Jan. 6 with polls opening townwide on Saturday, Jan. 13.