News from Braintree: the town’s board of license commissioners wanted to hear from residents and the business community about the need for any additional liquor licenses and whether they should be limited to business districts that the town is seeking to revitalize, including Braintree Square, South Braintree Square, and the Braintree portion of Weymouth Landing, which straddles the Braintree/Weymouth line.
But no one came to discuss the issue during the Oct. 12 board meeting.
“We had been hearing from businesses and other folks that they were interested in acquiring liquor licenses for restaurants,” said Town Clerk Joseph Powers, the chairman of the board, in an Oct. 21 interview with the Braintree Forum. “We had our staff inform people that the board would conduct a local forum where any interested party could come forward and weigh in on whether the town needs more liquor licenses. The fact that no one showed up to advocate for more liquor licenses tells me clearly that there’s no further need.”
The board agreed on Sept. 7 to grant a food license for the new Sake Japanese Restaurant at 910 Washington St. in South Braintree Square, but could not grant a request from owner Wen Fang Zheng for a beer and wine license because the town had none left to give.
The board granted Braintree’s last beer and wine license to Foursquare at 16 Commercial St. in Weymouth Landing. Scheduled to open in November, the restaurant, formerly known as Helen’s, is owned by state Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth, and partner Marko Fani.
Special legislation would have to be sought to allow the town to add one more beer and wine license for the Sake Japanese Restaurant. Under state law, the number of liquor licenses each community is allowed is dictated by population. Braintree has issued all 35 full liquor licenses for bars, restaurants, and clubs, along with seven beer and wine licenses.
