Farmington's Town Plan and Zoning Commission on Sept. 28 refused to let GG Mart, the convenience store at a Valero gas station on Farmington Avenue, sell beer. Two commissioners who voted no pointed to its spot beside the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail and near a playground, and doubted that a gas station is a grocery store.
The decision stalls the owner's bid for a state beer permit, at least for now. Without the town's sign-off, his lawyer had told the board, the state application could not succeed.
The vote was 4-2. Commissioners Bob Canto, Philip Cordeiro and Josh Davidson and Chair Liz Sanford voted no. Secretary David St. Germain and Commissioner Peter Zarella voted yes. Neither the owner nor his lawyer said at the meeting whether they would reapply, appeal or drop the request.
The only members of the public who spoke were the owners of two rival liquor businesses, including Highlands Package Store, the nearest one. Both were opposed.
One of the two yes votes argued that if students were the worry, the existing package store was the bigger problem. "I feel like the Highlands Package Store is much closer to the high school than GG Mart is by 500 feet," St. Germain said.
What the owner wanted
Savan Pourharton Babroudi has owned GG Mart, at 1387 Farmington Avenue, since June 1, 2025, and managed it before that. He wanted a state grocery store beer permit, a Connecticut license that lets a grocery store sell beer to take home. The plan was beer and seltzers, mostly in six- and 12-packs, from one locked cooler between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. The store already scans IDs and has seven cameras, with more planned, plus a separate register for alcohol.
"My business will comply with all the state and local laws governing alcohol sales," Pourharton Babroudi told the commission. "Employees will be properly trained to check identification carefully and to refuse sales to minor or intoxicated individuals."
His lawyer, David Peck, said the store had no record of arrests or police trouble that he knew of, and "no compliance issues with respect to the sale of tobacco."
The state application needed the commission's approval because the town's zoning rules bar a new liquor outlet within 1,500 feet of an existing one unless the commission grants an exception, which commissioners also called a waiver. GG Mart sits about 550 feet from Highlands Package Store, across Farmington Avenue (Route 4), by the town planner's map measurement.
To grant it, the commission had to find that the request passed all four of the town's tests, which Davidson read aloud. They cover the concentration of liquor outlets, fit with the area's zoning, harm to health and safety near schools, churches, playgrounds and homes, and traffic. "We have the option to grant a waiver," Davidson said. "But in order to grant a waiver, we must believe all four of the criteria in the regulations. I don't."
Is it a grocery store?
Much of the hearing turned on a question the commission does not decide. State law reserves the permit for a store "commonly known as a delicatessen, food store, grocery store or supermarket" that is "primarily engaged" in selling canned and dry goods.
"On the application," Davidson told the owner, "you listed that this request is a grocery store beer permit for a gas station. I don't think I need to point out the irony there."
Peck and Davidson both described the practical test as whether groceries make up more than half the business, but they measured it differently. Peck compared the store's grocery sales with its gasoline business. Davidson compared them with everything the store takes in.
The gas side is run by a separate company that owns the pumps; the store earns a commission on each gallon sold. Counting that commission as revenue shrinks the grocery share. Using the owner's own sales spreadsheet, Davidson put groceries at 47.1 percent of the store's sales, short of half. Whether the store qualifies, he added, is for the state's liquor regulators to decide.
Peck did not offer a percentage of his own. He said the figures had been presented "in a little bit of a rudimentary fashion" and that fuller documentation could be provided. Asked by a commissioner where the grocery sales come from, Pourharton Babroudi listed candy, snacks, soda, water, energy drinks, coffee and tea.
Why the majority said no
Davidson said the store draws high school students, sits beside the trail and about 250 feet from a park with a playground, and is near public access to the river, where trash including liquor bottles and beer cans is already a problem.
"I'm not doing this for competitive purposes," Davidson said. "I'm concerned because liquor permits are more heavily regulated than other businesses because there are negative externalities to those businesses."
Sanford praised the town's business owners but said of this request, "I don't like the fit for this situation." Canto put it more bluntly: "They both called it a gas station up there. We all see it as a gas station." Canto also objected to its closeness to the playground and the ballpark. Cordeiro did not explain the no vote on the record.
Why two members said yes
St. Germain noted that the existing store is on the same side of Route 4 as the school, while GG Mart is across it. The store is small, St. Germain added, and whether it qualifies for a state permit is "for the state to decide." The conclusion: "I don't see a reason why I would say no."
Zarella agreed. "I don't think it qualifies as grocery store," Zarella said, "but I don't have any real problem with it under the factors that I think it's our job to consider."
Peck pointed to the village center in Unionville, where several alcohol sellers near Union School sit roughly 720 to 730 feet apart, by the town planner's measurement. Taylor Pogson, an alternate member who did not vote, made the same point.
The objectors
Utpal Dave, who owns Highlands Package Store, said the store has run for 14 years without a violation, presented signatures from neighbors and customers opposing the request, and measured the distance between the two properties at 538 feet. Dave warned of a "domino effect" if other gas stations followed. The owner of 1426 Farmington Avenue, where Highlands sits, also wrote in opposition, the town planner said.
Pete Ramchandani, who told the commission, "I currently own three liquor permits in town," including Liquor Square and Valley Wines, asked what would stop the Mobil and Shell stations from coming in next.
Peck had told the commission at the outset to expect that objection, since a new outlet would cut into the package store's sales.
Related: A Vacant Office, a Late Vote, and Farmington's Version of the State Housing Law
This coverage is supported by Farmington Storage, 155 Scott Swamp Road, the only storage facility in Connecticut with Museum air. 860.777.4001 📦
Jack Beckett has covered Farmington's Plan and Zoning Commission long enough to know that 1,500 feet is a long way in a zoning rule and a short one on Farmington Avenue. First coffee. ☕
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