Year after petitions filed, Wilmington Riverfront hookah lounge gets alcohol board hearing

Amanda Fries, Delaware News Journal
·4 min read

Over a year after the Wilmington Riverfront Development Corp. rallied businesses to oppose a hookah lounge serving alcohol, Pure Flavor Hookah Lounge owners are getting a hearing with the state alcohol control board.

The development corporation along with several Riverfront businesses submitted petitions in July 2022 to prompt a public hearing on the hookah lounge’s application for a taproom license, but it would take a year for Delaware’s Office of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commissioner to schedule it.

A virtual hearing has finally been set for 5 p.m. Sept. 14.

James Gittens, owner of Pure Flavor Hookah Lounge, gives an interview at his lounge in Wilmington., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.
James Gittens, owner of Pure Flavor Hookah Lounge, gives an interview at his lounge in Wilmington., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.

The Riverfront Development Corp., a quasi-government entity responsible for steering development and “maintaining and securing” public properties at the Riverfront, sent a letter on July 19, 2022, asking the commissioner to deny the Black-owned business’s request for a taproom license because “there have been numerous complaints” about the lounge and “the operators.”

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Penned by the corporation’s Executive Director Megan McGlinchey, the letter claimed the entity – established by state and local officials over 25 years ago – had received multiple complaints about the lounge, including “a patron waving a gun, 9mm shells found outside the operation’s door, another person wielding a knife,” among other allegations.

“The Pure Flavor Hookah Lounge has brought patrons that are a threat to the guests, employees, and overall public safety of the Wilmington Riverfront,” McGlinchey concluded in the letter.

However, none of the allegations are documented by Wilmington police, and law enforcement earlier this year stressed that none of the alleged incidents could be tied to the Justison Street business.

“Our department did not have concerns about the establishment and we did not take any enforcement action that would necessitate making contact,” Wilmington Police Department spokesman David Karas previously said.

Riverfront businesses coordinate opposition

Correspondence obtained by Delaware Online/The News Journal through a Freedom of Information Act request revealed seemingly coordinated efforts among development corporation officials, the lounge’s landlord Pettinaro Management LLC and the Buccini Pollin Group to oppose Pure Flavor’s request for a taproom license.

Pure Flavor Hookah Lounge opened at the Wilmington Riverfront in January 2022, then closed on April 22. Timothy’s Riverfront Grill is among businesses and others that oppose the lounge receiving a taproom license.
Pure Flavor Hookah Lounge opened at the Wilmington Riverfront in January 2022, then closed on April 22. Timothy’s Riverfront Grill is among businesses and others that oppose the lounge receiving a taproom license.

The claims against the hookah lounge took hold after Timothy’s Riverfront Grill owner Brandon Heath complained about the lounge to Pettinaro in an April 11, 2022, email.

Less than two weeks later, Pettinaro met with city police, the Riverfront Development Corp. and alcohol enforcement officers to discuss issues with the hookah lounge. The next day, an alcohol enforcement officer visited Pure Flavor to notify owners they could not serve alcohol using the gathering license the business received for its previous location.

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Indeed, McGlinchey forwarded the notice received about the application for a taproom license, encouraging Robert Buccini to send a letter opposing the hookah lounge’s request.

“Not sure if the Westin received this letter or not but we definitely need a letter sent to the commissioner in opposition to the application,” she wrote in a June 28, 2022, email. “Would be good for the Fieldhouse to send a letter too.”

Buccini later responded saying that once the hearing is scheduled, BPG, Pettinaro and the development corporation should “get on a call” to discuss “how to approach it.”

Open, but waiting

It’s unclear why it took the beverage control commissioner over a year to schedule a hearing.

The office did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

James Gittens, owner of Pure Flavor Hookah Lounge, gives an interview at his lounge in Wilmington., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.
James Gittens, owner of Pure Flavor Hookah Lounge, gives an interview at his lounge in Wilmington., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.

By comparison, a public hearing was held for Dew Point Brewing Co. last year within about three months of receiving petitions from area residents seeking to prevent the outdoor event space from playing amplified music. When the commissioner did not rule in the brewery’s favor, it appealed the decision and was given a hearing in June.

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The extended delay by the state office has hamstrung the hookah lounge’s owners.

James Gittens, one of the owners, said they voluntarily closed Pure Flavor on April 22, 2022, hoping their request for a taproom license would be addressed in a timely fashion.

But by spring of this year, Gittens said they “had to do something to cover expenses.”

It now operates from midnight to 4 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays without alcohol, he said.

Got a tip? Contact Amanda Fries at afries@delawareonline.com, or by calling or texting 302-598-5507. Follow her on X at @mandy_fries.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Wilmington hookah lounge gets public hearing year after complaints