The Pittsfield Township Board of Trustees has rejected a class C liquor license application from Zingerman’s Creamery. Zingerman’s is proposing a new two-story, 3,200-square-foot creamery at 3728 Airport Drive, across from its current location in the Airport Plaza, and the liquor license was to be a part of those plans. But township Clerk Alan Israel said the expansion plans are vague and the township’s low stock of Class C licenses means it must be careful to award licenses to the strongest applications. Only five of 23 class C licenses allotted to Pittsfield by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission until 2021 remain, though the township is working with its attorneys and state representative to find a solution with the state. In the meantime, Pittsfield officials say the Board must consider the economic benefit each applicant offers and the number of customers their business will attract. Though the plans aren’t exactly clear, it appears Zingerman’s would use the class C license for a bar area that serves around 16 customers. Israel said that isn’t quite what the township is looking for. “The thing that I can tell you is the Board looks for those licenses – since we have so few of them – that will bring some development, some development that brings additional or new people into the community. That’s been their philosophy,” he said. “With the discussions we’re having with the liquor control commission, (Zingerman’s application) just didn’t meet what the Board looks for under the current system,” he later added. The Board made the decision at its Wednesday meeting, and Zingerman’s marketing director Pete Sickman-Garner didn’t return calls from The Ann Arbor News on Thursday. Israel said he was unsure how the application’s rejection affected the company’s plans.

Source: http://www.mlive.com/business/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2015/06/pittsfield_rejects_zingermans.html