OXFORD —  A liquor licence application for The Maine Pit, a barbecue eatery and outdoor entertainment venue on Roller Rink Road, was denied by the Board of Selectmen during its meeting Thursday. 

In June, the board approved an application to serve beer and wine at the establishment from Maine Pit owner Donald Crocker. 

That application was denied by the Maine Department of Public Safety after it found that both Crocker, 56, and the establishment’s manager, Richard Dupuis, 50, had criminal records they failed to disclose, Oxford Police Chief Job Tibbetts told selectmen. 

According to his Maine criminal history record, Dupuis has one conviction for assault in 1998. Crocker has six convictions, the first in 1975 and the most recent for drunken driving in 2006. 

At Thursday’s meeting, selectmen unanimously denied a reapplication by Crocker.

Selectman Jay Goforth, who made the motion to deny the application, said it was the same paperwork submitted to the town two months ago.

“I’m denying it because it was the same license that was passed in June,” Goforth said. “Nothing’s been changed on it.”

Dupuis, who attended the meeting, asked what the town would require to approve the application. 

“We’re not trying to hide anything, we’re just ignorant,” Dupuis told selectmen. 

He said Crocker had submitted a detailed affidavit in reference to the application to explain the failure to disclose. 

Goforth said the affidavit did not accompany the new application. 

Town Manager Michael Chammings told Dupuis he and Crocker could appeal the decision to the state. An appeals hearing would be set up for selectmen to explain why they denied the application, Chammings said. 

Outside the meeting, Dupuis said he was frustrated with the process of setting up a business in the town, especially compared to what he viewed as a friendly reception for commercial ventures like Applebee’s.

“A local guy wants to build a facility for families to reunite as families and they’re giving us a hard time,” Dupuis said. 

The process was ‘”foreign” to Crocker and himself and they did not intentionally lie on the application, Dupuis said. He admitted to having a conviction and believed Crocker had one conviction from the 1980s.

“Don and I, we’ve known each other for 15 years, but I’m sorry if I can’t remember back to 1982,” Dupuis said. 

He said the two men planned to appeal the selectmen’s decision. 

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