NORTHAMPTON — Plans to move the recently closed Bishop’s Lounge to a new location in the city have been complicated by building code regulations for the newly proposed site and accusations of improper alcohol purchasing by the club’s owner.
Carla Racine, the owner of Bishop’s Lounge, appeared before the Northampton License Commission for a public hearing last week to seek approval for a change in location as well as to transfer Racine’s all-alcohol liquor license to the new facility. The new location is designated at 300 Pleasant St., not far from its original location at 41 Strong Ave. that closed in mid-July.
During the public hearing, Racine was questioned by Building Commissioner Kevin Ross about the specifications of the proposed new location. Ross asked if she had spoke with anyone in the building department prior to her plans to move. Racine responded she had spoken with Nathan Chung, but Chung works for the city’s planning department, not the building department.
Ross also asked how many bathrooms were in the new location and if it had a sprinkler system. Racine said there was one restroom currently and no sprinkler system, though she plans to install sprinklers in the future.
With those current standards, Ross said Racine could not use the building until a sprinkler system was installed, since the club would be located on the second floor of the building. He also said that with just one bathroom, the capacity for the establishment would be only 20 people.
“It’s a change of venue, so you have to meet all the new requirements of state codes,” Ross said.
Racine seemed caught off guard by the requirements needed for the new venue.
“I didn’t know that this was even going to be part of the conversation right now,” Racine said. “I would have had some kind of preparation, but I did not know this information. I feel kind of bamboozled.”
Racine also claimed that she was at risk of losing her all-alcohol license if she was unable to move.
“I’m going to lose my license if it doesn’t get attached to that property,” she said. “I understand I have a finite time, I did do my due diligence.”
Records from the Northampton District Court show that Racine’s landlord, Volkan Polatol, had sent Racine an eviction notice on March 14 for failure to pay rent, but that case was later dismissed.
Another lawsuit filed in Hampden Superior Court by Polatol against Racine in July shows that Racine’s limited liability company, 41 Strong LLC, had in 2021 agreed to purchase the all-alcohol license from Polatol and had delivered a promissory note to pay the sum of $99,000, plus annual interest, in exchange for the license and other business assets. Racine also entered into a security agreement with Polatol that the liquor license would be returned should the amount owed not be paid by Racine.
According to the Superior Court lawsuit, which is still ongoing, Polatol is seeking the sum of $129,798 after Racine allegedly stopped making payments after August 2023. Polatol did not immediately return request for comment regarding the lawsuit.
The License Commission did not grant Racine a change in location, instead continuing the public hearing for a later date.
“There’s a lot of complicated things that need to happen that the License Commission can’t address,” said Commission Chair Natasha Yakovlev. “If we don’t continue the hearing, then the only other option is to deny the application.”
In addition, members of the License Commission said they had heard accusations that Racine had been purchasing alcohol for Bishop’s Lounge from retail sellers rather than from licensed distributors, a violation of Racine’s liquor license. Yakovlev said Racine needed to present either receipts or a letter from a licensed distributor before Friday, Sept. 26, or face a potential public hearing for a possible license violation.
“What I’m doing is offering you an opportunity to do this voluntarily,” Yakovlev said. “If you can provide us that paperwork … we can avoid doing a public hearing to discuss a potential violation.”
Reached for comment regarding the accusations, Racine simply said “it’s not true.” She also said she had submitted documents to the commission to prove she had used licensed distributors.
Annie Lesko, the city’s administration, licensing and economic development coordinator, confirmed that Racine had submitted documents to the commission, but said they were still under review to determine if they were sufficient enough proof.
