Hungry Betty's Hearing on Alcohol at Outdoor Seating Area

A local restaurant owner's goal of offering customers alcoholic drinks in a roped-off outdoor seating area will be the focus of a at Wednesday night.

This won't be the first time representatives have appeared in the - in July they appeared before the Zoning Board of Appeals, hoping to get the green light to offer outdoor seating for 20.

Although the board initially , Hungry Betty's owner Patty Johnson said her request was eventually approved and now she is hoping to get permission to sell alcohol in the outdoor seating area.

Several neighbors attended the meeting in July to sound off against the request, arguing that five outdoor tables may generate too much noise late at night and may attract local teens known to loiter in the area.

The idea, Johnson said, is to offer her customers the option of dining at five tables lined up along the railing outside of her second-tier Village Plaza restaurant. The tables, she said, would be roped off and wouldn't impede with the flow of traffic to nearby businesses, including a nail salon next door.

Johnson's proposal requested permission for the tables for as long as the restaurant is open, which is typically 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

In response to those who opposed the request in July, Johnson said "I’m not the only establishment at Village Plaza that gets out late and there is supposed to be no loitering and I call the cops all the time on the kids who hang out there."

The public hearing is scheduled to begin in the Selectmen's Meeting Room of at 7:35 p.m. Wednesday night, according to the posted agenda.