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.
