Liquor License Dropped From Town Meeting Warrant

FOXBOROUGH, MA- There will be one less license request than expected at May's Annual Town Meeting.

Tuesday night, the selectmen voted 4-1 to approve Article 17 which will allow the town to petition the state for two additional restaurant licenses for the Route 140 area from Foxborough Plaza to the Mansfield town line. Chris Mitchell was the lone vote against the article. Article 15 and 16, which contain seven liquor license requests, were approved.

Removed from Article 17 was a package store license that was requested by Hops and Grapes on Commercial Street. Lorraine Brue of the Economic Development Committee said they had received concerns from other package stores that allowing Hops and Grapes to upgrade their license from beer and wine to all-alcohol could hurt their businesses.

"They came to a meeting and presented information that we had not considered. Once we heard that we had consensus that we should pull that one," Brue told the selectmen.

Town Manager Bill Keegan said he was told by the owner of Hops and Grapes that most of their business drives to Mansfield once they discover that they only serve beer and wine.

"The argument is that the town would be able to retain those sales," Keegan said.

The Hopes and Grapes beer and wine license was to be sought by Normandy Farms, who had an interest in featuring a small collection inside their on-site store. Jim Civilinski, the former owner and now consultant for Route 1 Liquor Mart, told the board that such a move would hurt the Route 1 stores.

Chairman Jim DeVellis said the campground is unhappy with the development. Both affected businesses were notified that the license could be removed from the warrant during the evening but were not present.

Selectman David Feldman said if approved by town meeting, the nine licenses would be at least a year away from becoming a reality. The removed license can now be studied more and approved at a future town meeting, according to Feldman.

If the nine licenses are approved, the town will then petition the state for the additional liquor licenses. In addition to the two in article 17, three are zoned for the downtown area and four are for Route 1