Selectmen OK Extra New Year’s Eve Hour for Dudley Chateau

received the OK from Wayland’s Board of Selectmen to remain open an extra hour, until 1 a.m., on New Year’s Eve.

The Wayland Board of Selectmen voted 3-2 Monday night to grant the extension, but the vote did not come without much discussion and was, in fact, the second vote taken on the matter.

The question of extending the hours for the restaurant and bar on Dudley Pond first came up at the selectmen’s Dec. 12 meeting when only selectmen Sue Pope, Tom Fay, Steve Correia and John Bladon were present. At that time, the vote to extend the hours split 2-2, with Pope and Correia voting for the extension and Fay and Bladon voting against it. Without majority support, the measure didn’t pass.

At the Dec. 19 meeting, however, selectmen Joe Nolan was present and the issue arose again.

Bladon maintained his position from the prior week that an establishment currently on liquor probation should not be granted an extension.

“The concern that I had is the Chateau is currently on probation for liquor violation,” Bladon said. “And to me, it is not in keeping with the spirit of probation to allow them to stay open another hour. The probation issue is an issue I can’t get past.”

Fay echoed those concerns and added that he didn’t want to set a precedent for other businesses in town seeking extensions of this nature.

“I think for me, the first issue is the fact that no one else … has ever asked for such an extension,” Fay said. “I do think that setting a precedent like this could pose problems for our board or boards in the future. We’re Wayland. We’re a quiet community. I just think it’s more prudent to leave it at midnight.”

But Pope said that the current economic climate has taken a particular toll on restaurants, and she felt the board should do whatever possible to ease the burden.

“An hour, if that’s going to help bring money into Wayland, bring money into their business, than fine,” Pope said, noting that she did take the probation seriously, but believed the restaurant had worked to improve its practices. “I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt.”

Correia said his opinion in favor of granting the extension had been largely swayed by a conversation with a resident during the selectmen’s office hours on Dec. 10. Knowing the item was on an upcoming agenda for selectmen, Correia said he specifically asked a neighbor of the Dudley Chateau her opinion.

Correia said the person characterized the restaurant as “a good neighbor” and did not express any concerns with an extension to the New Year’s Eve hours.

“If we can help any business in any way, I’m OK with that,” he said. Correia went on to note that if a liquor violation occurred at the Dudley Chateau, he would have no problem “shutting them down the very next day.”

 In the end, Nolan said he didn’t have a problem granting the extension.

“They’ve really cleaned up the operation,” Nolan said. “Times are tough, and I think that they’re a good business.”

The final vote had Nolan joining Pope and Correia in support of the extension, while Fay and Bladon again voted against it.