PARIS – Two brothers who want to open a Class A liquor lounge in Market Square have one more week to get the application right.

Selectmen on Monday agreed to hold a special meeting at 4 p.m. June 21 to consider the request of James and Jamie McClendon for a liquor license to operate Playmaker’s Lounge at 22 Market Square.

Selectmen denied the first application they received last month because of errors on the application and a pending traffic violation James McClendon was facing in Massachusetts. The first application listed James as the applicant, and Jamie as the manager.

After that application was denied, the town received a new application, listing Jamie McClendon as the applicant. The change was questioned by Selectman Bruce Hanson, who said state law may not allow a someone to reapply for a license that has been denied to a relative.

“You’re applying because we turned him down?” Hanson asked Jamie McClendon, who answered yes.

“I’m all done,” Hanson said during the public hearing. Later, he moved to table the application so the town could get a ruling from the Maine Liquor Commission. Hanson said the change in applicants from one brother to another could be seen as an attempt to “circumvent the process” and be a violation justifying the town’s denial of the application.

“We have 60 days to act on this. We need to be sure,” Hanson said.

Jamie McClendon said his brother is his partner, and that no one questioned his background when the first application included his name.

James McClendon was due in District Court in Massachusetts Tuesday on a charge of operating after suspension, his second offense in that state, he said.

He said he was next to certain the Class E crime was not going to be considered a felony, which would prevent him from obtaining a liquor license in Maine. The charge would only be a felony if he were considered a habitual offender, which his lawyer assured him he was not, he told selectmen.

“In other words, you’re innocent until proven guilty,” said Jamie McClendon.

Hanson said he was not a judge, and would not be able to rule on the license application until the Massachusetts court has rendered a decision.

“You can apply all you want to, but all I’m asking for is a clarification,” Hanson said.

Head Selectman Gerald Kilgore Jr. then suggested the board hold a special meeting in a week, once the court case is decided.

Jamie McClendon followed by withdrawing his application.

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