The as yet unapproved Giant supermarket proposed for the also unapproved as yet shopping center at Ridge Road and Route 202 wants a restaurant liquor license approval from Concord Township. Giant took its request to the township council for a conditional use hearing Tuesday night. No decision is expected until April.
Giant was awarded the restaurant liquor license after a bidding process, and the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has specific regulations regarding the transfer of a license awarded in that manner, according to. Attorney Ellen Freeman, representing Giant. Her response was in response to a question from Concord Township solicitor Hugh Donaghue.
According to Freeman, those regulations mean the applicant must file for municipal approval within six months of being awarded the license. Giant was awarded the license on Oct. 9, 2025, making April 9, 2026, the six-month mark.
“If you don’t file by that date, you lose the license,” she said. Freeman later said that even if the council approves the transfer, “it would be moot” if the Ginat and development were declined. “Giant would not be able to move it anywhere else in the township. They would essentially lose the license.”
At that point, Donaghue noted the unique nature of the timing of the application since neither the Giant nor the development — The Shoppes at Concord — has been approved by the township council. And he mentioned that a revised plan might be proposed for the 23-acre site.
He continued saying he had previously suggested delaying the liquor license hearing until the land use was approved, but that was not to be the case because of the LCB’s six-month regulation. Donaghue said that any approval for the license transfer given before land development approval would have to be a conditional approval.
Freeman agreed to that and said she already filed papers for conditional language.
Council now anticipates announcing a decision at its April 7 meeting.
After discussion of the timeline legalities, Freeman got down to some of the specifics of what Giant plans for the alcoholic beverage sales.
Freeman made the bulk of the presentation, but she had Scott Shaeffer, the brand compliance manager for Giant as a witness to confirm proof of her statements.
She made the formal request, asking Concord to give approval for the license transfer to allow for alcoholic beverage sales at the proposed Giant.
Freeman continued, saying Giant has 144 stores with active restaurant liquor licenses in the state. The chain of stores has operated with liquor licenses since 2009, and she said, “Even with their operations spanning well over a decade, Giant has an incredible record with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, as well as the Liquor Control Board. They’re considered one of the gold standards in Pennsylvania with respect to how they operate their liquor licenses. Its gold standard and exemplary record are largely based on their safety policies.”
Basics of the proposal for the licensed area include hours of operation of 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days per week. There would be a “booth seating area” about 36 feet long along one wall, and a food sales area where patrons can get sushi, fried chicken, and other hot food to eat in the store. There will be no formal wait staff in the area; getting the food will be self-serve. The seating area will accommodate about 30 people, Freeman said.
The area would also have separate cash registers for liquor sales, and such sales have to be made at those registers, not at any other register in the store. There would be a total of five employees in the area, and all of them would be RAMP trained, Freeman said.
RAMP stands for Responsible Alcohol Management Program. The program teaches sellers how to properly card people for ID, how to spot a fake ID, and how to spot a visibly intoxicated person. There is also an internal training program, she said. That program teaches the sellers what Giant additionally does to ensure the safe sale of alcohol.
The area will also have a trained manager for the license area. The manager’s training goes beyond what RAMP teaches the regular employees.
There will be limitations on what can be sold. Those limitations include selling no more than 192 ounces of beer to go, about the equivalent of two six-packs, 3,000 ml of wine, equivalent to about four standard bottles. They are also limited to selling no more than 192 fluid ounces of spirit-based drinks or canned cocktails.
“Because it’s a restaurant liquor license, the Liquor Control Board maintains that they must allow for on-premises consumption,” Freeman said.
But because of that requirement, Giant is limiting what a person can drink on-site. Those restrictions include 24 ounces of either beer or a ready-to-drink cocktail, or one 8-and-a-half-ounce bottle of wine.
In addition to those restrictions, a patron “must be sitting in the seating area,” Freeman said. “You are not permitted to walk around even in the licensed area with an open container, and you’re certainly not permitted to walk around the grocery store or the parking lot with an open container.”
Freeman then called Shaeffer, the brand compliance manager for Giant, who confirmed the truth of what she had said in her presentation.
Some members of the council asked Shaeffer several questions, many of which were in the nature of confirming Freeman’s presentation regarding the amount that can be sold. Other questions concerned how Giant would handle thefts, and a double check of how many employees there would be for the licensed area, and that the employees would be RAMP trained.
There were six members in the audience with only one — Concord resident Kevin Voit —speaking against approving the license. No one spoke in favor of the application.
Voit had previously sent a letter to the council asking that members deny the application, and he read most of that letter during the hearing. He made several points in his letter, including the fact that nothing — neither the shopping center nor the store has yet been approved.
“Without approved and finalized plans, the township cannot meaningfully assess the licensed premises in their ultimate configuration or evaluate their impact on traffic, safety, zoning compliance, and community welfare. Municipal approval at this stage would therefore rest on assumptions regarding future design elements and operational conditions that remain subject to change.”
Voit also referenced traffic issues. Specifically, he cited: “The introduction of a restaurant liquor license — particularly one facilitating off-premises alcohol sales — is reasonably expected to increase short-duration vehicle trips, peak-hour parking turnover, and internal circulation activity. Alcohol-related retail activity typically generates higher trip frequency and shorter dwell times than conventional grocery shopping, further intensifying ingress and egress activity.”
He also mentioned zoning concerns, saying that the zoning code does allow for a supermarket in the C-2 Planned Business and Commercial District, “retail liquor sales are not identified as a permitted secondary use.”
Voit also cited what he termed a “concentration of alcohol availability” in the township, noting that ACME, Whole Foods, and Wegmans.” He did not cite WAWA, which also sells beer.
In an exchange with. Freeman, it was determined that the state calls for one liquor license per 3,000 people in the municipality, while Concord currently has 24 restaurant liquor licenses, making the ratio 4.72 licenses per 3,000 residents.
Voit concluded, saying, “For all of the reasons set forth above, I respectfully request that Concord Township deny the proposed intermunicipal transfer of a restaurant liquor license to Giant Food Stores, LLC and memorialize that decision by formal resolution.”
There were four people from Chadds Ford Township, but they were only observers. None of them spoke in either support or opposition. There was no one from Concord Township supporting the application.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
