The application for a beer and wine license for the DB Mart on Pond St drew the crowd out to the Town Council meeting on Wednesday. With four councilors missing from this meeting much of the legislation for action was postponed to a new meeting added to the calendar next Wednesday, May 8th. The first license transaction, a change in manager for the Alumni Restaurant was handled quickly and easily.
The application for the DB Mart drew multiple comments from neighbors and questions from the Town Council. This is an interesting situation. A small convenience store in a neighborhood is looking to add the beer and wine license. They will need to go through the Planning Board to address parking and other site plan issues but were attempting to see if they would be able to get the license to make the additional expense of site improvements worth it. The chicken and egg situation is creating most of the problem. had they gone through the Planning Board process, the neighbors concerns would have been addressed at least from the perspective of the bylaws for parking, trash and other site issues.
That the location is currently a bus stop is likely to be reviewed if the license is granted. The schools involved will likely not want to have the students so close to such an establishment. This is the bigger question. When the site issues are address, assuming the applicants follow through with their proposal, should a license be granted for a store in a residential neighborhood so close to a school?
Stay tuned for the continuation of the hearing on the license currently scheduled for next Weds May 8th. Check the Planning Board agenda to see when it will also appear for discussion there. As of Thursday morning, the agenda for the next meeting May 6th has not yet been posted.
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_PlanningAgendas/2013%20Agendas/
For the rest of what occured during the meeing, you can review my full set of notes as reported live here
