Home Care In Belcamp, MD

A more than 9,400-square-foot liquor store proposed at Tollgate Marketplace divided community members, business owners.

Patch Staff

|Updated Thu, Aug 27, 2020 at 10:27 am ET

Several protesters held signs on one side of the room at Waters Edge in Belcamp, where the liquor board hearing was held Wednesday, Aug. 26. (Elizabeth Janney/Patch)

BEL AIR, MD — A would-be business owner hoping to open a large liquor store at Tollgate Marketplace faced significant opposition Wednesday at a hearing about the liquor license application. The Harford County Board of Liquor Control voted 3-1 to deny the license for Cork Wine & Spirits.

Cork had been trying to obtain a Class A-1 liquor license, which would allow for sales of beer, wine and liquor seven days a week in the space where Party City used to be.

A small herd of lawyers represented those opposed to the proposal, and their clients included both business owners and community members concerned about the impacts of the 9,428-square-foot store on their own livelihoods and safety.

Due to the amount of opposition, the liquor board hearing was held at Waters Edge in Belcamp.

There were six factors commissioners had to consider in determining whether the liquor board should grant the license request, according to the Maryland Alcoholic Beverage Code:

Find out what's happening in Bel Airwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Tilley said the decision was "one of the toughest" he has had to make in his five years as a commissioner for the liquor board.

Commissioners said they were concerned about the lack of information the owner had about everything from staffing to inventory to rent.

Vales said he "hasn’t had the opportunity to meet with the other investors" and did not want to say how many there were. He said he was leaving his teaching career to open the liquor store and did not want to give answers to questions he did not have information about.

"I maybe lack a little bit of experience, but we're going to do everything we can," Vales said, to "bring a sense of pride" to Tollgate Marketplace.

“We should have gotten some more details,” Commissioner Cheryl Davis Kohl said. "Other businesses are protesting, being honest, putting their cards on the table."

Fellow commissioner Frederic L. Merchant agreed and said: "I'm not convinced" that Cork met criteria required for a license to be granted.

Joseph Snee, the attorney representing the JBST Enterprises, Inc., the group behind Cork Wine & Spirits, told Patch after the decision was handed down that he advised his clients to "sleep on it," following a hearing that lasted more than eight hours, and they planned to regroup early next week.

If the group wanted to appeal, the next step would be to take the case to Harford County Circuit Court.

The appeal must be made within 30 days of the decision from the liquor board.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

BEL AIR, MD — Two girls have been charged with arson in connection with the fire at the historic Victorian mansion on Creswell Road that broke out in May, according to the fire marshal. The two-alarm blaze caused significant damage to the building that was more than 150 years old.

Both 16-year-old girls were charged as juveniles, Senior Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire told Patch. As a result, they are not being identified.

When the fire broke out at 11:10 a.m. on May 3, officials said more than 50 firefighters were called to the blaze in the 2400 block of Creswell Road. It took hours to control the blaze at the building, which was vacant.

While the structure was on the grounds of the Arrow Child and Family Ministry Center, the building was neither owned nor operated by Arrow.

The mansion was built in 1868 for the last owner of Harford Furnace, Clement Dietrich, and many in Harford County knew it as Old Main for the former Eastern Christian College, investigators said.

"We do know that at the time of the investigation, it was going to be completely razed — it was going to be destroyed," Alkire told Patch.

"Due to the damage, we never really put a price tag on it," he said, adding that it was "probably a million [dollars in damage] due to its historical significance."

In the aftermath of the blaze, deputy fire marshals partnered in the investigation with the Harford County Sheriff's Office and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), which assists when there are large losses.

For days, investigators worked to gather warrants and subpoenas related to the fire, Alkire said. Once the Harford County state's attorney was presented with their findings, charges were filed.

The two 16-year-old girls who live at the Arrow Center were charged with second-degree arson, malicious destruction of property and first-degree malicious burning, according to the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Officials said they were referred to the Department of Juvenile Services.

"They are still in the custody of the Arrow Center," Alkire said Tuesday night. He said the charges were filed last week.

Arrow Crossroads Transitional Living is a residential program for girls ages 13 to 21 in the foster care system that prepares them for independent living. It is located in the 2400 block of Creswell Road.

Due to the ongoing nature of the case, Alkire declined to specify where and how the fire started, other than to say it was intentionally set inside the building, which is at 2408 Creswell Road.

See Also:

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — A three-alarm fire near Belcamp early Thursday morning displaced 15 people and caused $1 million in damage, according to officials. One person was reportedly sent to the hospital as a result of the fire, which occurred at a condo complex off Riverside Parkway.

At 2:39 a.m., the Abingdon Fire Company and crews from surrounding fire companies were dispatched to the blaze in the 1200 block of Raven Wood Court, according to Jenn Chenworth, spokeswoman for the Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association.

A resident awoke to the smell of smoke and discovered a fire on her third-floor balcony, then alerted her family, activated the fire alarm to let the rest of the building know and escaped, officials said.

When firefighters arrived, they found flames coming from the roof of the three-story condominium building, according to the Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company. There were people trapped, the fire company reported.

Abingdon firefighters rescued two people, and everyone else was able to evacuate on their own, according to the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Approximately 50 firefighters responded and brought the blaze under control within an hour, officials said.

An engine and tower from the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company remained on the scene of the Riverside Condominiums blaze until about 5 p.m., according to Rich Gardiner of the fire company.

Three engines from the Susquehanna Hose Company also assisted before returning to Havre de Grace around 4:30 a.m.

The Red Cross was helping the 15 people who were displaced, according to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

One firefighter was hospitalized with minor injuries as a result of the fire, according to WBAL, which said that the condo where the fire started was a complete loss. Nearby units had water and smoke damage.

There was an estimated $1 million in damage, according to the fire marshal; $500,000 was in structural damage, while items worth about $500,000 inside the condo building were also lost in the blaze.

The fire was ruled accidental due to discarded ashes from a fireplace.

Since fireplace ashes can ignite days after they have been discarded, people are encouraged to put them in a metal container, add water and store them outside away from structures on a concrete surface.

Photos of the active fire scene courtesy of the Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company. Picture showing the aftermath, with the fire extinguished, courtesy of the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

BEL AIR, MD — A Bel Air man faces up to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to prosecutors.

Elliott Dennis Kleinman, 68, of Bel Air, and a colleague in Harford County are accused of coming up with a kickback scheme that defrauded their employer of $20,300,757.

Kleinman worked as a manager for Citrus and Allied Essences (C&A), which uses large plastic and metal drums to ship and store extracts and oils for the food industry at its Belcamp facility and at its affiliate in Abingdon Trilogy Essential Ingredients, which makes seasonings and ingredients.

Find out what's happening in Bel Airwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

One account called EKD Management Ltd. was held at Harford Bank and the other was EDK Management Ltd. trading as Main Street Cigar, located in a shopping center on Churchville Road.

Officials said Kleinman deposited the drum vendor’s checks into EDK’s business account, then withdrew it as cash, which he spent on personal items or moved to the Main Street Cigar account.

The New Jersey drum supplier wrote out purchase orders summarizing the actual and fake drum orders showing how the kickbacks were calculated, and he sent copies to Kleinman's home and the personal residence of the other Harford County manager involved — Eugene DiNoto — through FedEx, according to the plea agreement. In weekly phone calls, DiNoto and the New Jersey business owner negotiated the number of real and bogus drums that would be shipped, and sometimes prosecutors said that DiNoto called to contest the kickback calculations.

From 2017 through 2019, Kleinman was paid about $1,034,911 in kickbacks for his role in the fraudulent billing scheme, and his failure to disclose the income in his tax returns resulted in a loss to the U.S. government of $291,143, prosecutors said.

From 2018 to April 2019 alone, officials said Kleinman reported making $166,223, so he owed $22,627.

"In truth and fact, Kleinman's taxable income for that year was approximately $517,554, upon which there was an income tax due and owing of approximately $92,026," according to the plea agreement.

For tax evasion, Kleinman faces up to five years in federal prison, and for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby will handle sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled as of Wednesday.

The owner of Tunnel, Barrel & Drum Co. — Anthony P. Urcioli Sr., 78, of Park Ridge, N.J. — has already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and filing a false tax return for his role in the scheme, prosecutors said; he is also awaiting sentencing, officials said.

Below is Kleinman's plea agreement:

Harford County has equipped five parking lots with free wireless internet access, including one in Bel Air.

|Updated Wed, May 27, 2020 at 3:41 pm ET

BEL AIR, MD — Free wifi is now available at five more spots in Harford County, where residents can use wireless internet in the parking lots outside select county buildings, including one in Bel Air. The Harford County Office of Information & Communication Technology installed the external access points, officials announced this week. People can also still log onto the internet outside Harford County Public Library locations too.

While the buildings are not open to the public due to the coronavirus, people can use the internet outside in the parking lot. Officials said they created the access points to make internet more available to the public given the closure of facilities like libraries and schools.

"For our residents who need or want internet connectivity during this crisis, we expanded the free public wifi normally accessible inside these buildings to the parking lots outside," County Executive Barry Glassman said in a statement.

"We understand this is not the only solution, and our work continues with the private sector on rural broadband," Glassman said, "but we wanted to bring some help fairly quickly and make it available to everyone."

Here's where to find the new wifi access points, which officials say have the strongest signals closest to the buildings:

Find out what's happening in Bel Airwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Harford County officials said that users will have to agree to standard terms before getting online. However, no passwords are necessary.

Here is a map with all free wifi locations in Harford County, with the new additions in red:

In addition to these newly added sites, Harford County offers free wifi outside the 11 Harford County Public Library branches and the library's administrative headquarters in Belcamp.

Here are those locations:

In April, Harford County Public Schools Superintendent Sean Bulson announced a hot spot had been installed in the parking lot at North Harford High School to provide free internet access for those who need it there.

"We know that internet access up there is one of our greater challenges in the county," Bulson said. He advised parking in the upper parking lot up on the road outside the high school.

See Also: