A businessman who had hoped to open the “Ringside Bar” in Locke’s Mills blamed Greenwood selectmen Tuesday for having to drop his plans.

Tom Boughter of Waterford had come to the board two weeks ago for a liquor license approval, which would have allowed him to open the former Mt. Mica Rarities gem shop building as a sports bar.

But they tabled it for two weeks, citing their own and other residents’ concerns about traffic exiting the downhill driveway that enters Route 26. The selectmen decided to ask for input from the Maine Department of Transportation and possibly the town attorney before making a decision.

Boughter was not required to bring his proposal before the town’s Planning Board because the business housed in the building would still be retail and is not considered a change of use, according to town officials.

Before tabling, two selectmen said they did not think the board had a legal basis to deny the application. The board uses state law as a guide for liquor applications. Among reasons to deny are previous convictions of the applicant for certain crimes; noncompliance of the premises or its use with local zoning or other land use ordinances; a record of waste disposal, health, safety or other violations; and repeated incidents of breaches of the peace, disorderly conduct or vandalism.

Boughter said none of those reasons applied to him. “I’m a well-decorated, honorably-discharged U.S. Army veteran who doesn’t have so much as a speeding ticket,” he said.

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He said it was “not ethical” for the board to consider anything else beyond the state requirements in making a decision. Tying it to another agency, like MDOT, he said, “is irrelevant. The guidelines set forth for that liquor license are plainly spelled out.”

He went on to say the two week delay on the license made his business plan unworkable. With the ski season getting into full swing, said Boughter, he was counting on being able to be open for Christmas and New Year’s.

“That’s when the majority of customers, especially the ones up on the mountain going skiing, start getting into the groove of where they want to go,” he said. “I believe that the reason it was pushed, and it was tabled, was to get the effect that you got. The project isn’t happening right now.”

Contractors had been lined up to get the building ready, he said, if the board had approved the license Dec. 3.

“What the three of you did was force me to table a decision,” he said. “You’ve set a precedent that simply says that Greenwood isn’t open for business.”

Selectman Amy Chapman disagreed that “taking an extra two weeks to do ‘due diligence’ is extreme.” She said the board had 60 days to act on the license.

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“We don’t just work for people who want to put a business in the town. We work for the people in the town,” she said. “Every person who approached me and every person, I believe, who came to the meeting had concerns and negative opinions. For us to just say, ‘sweep them out the door,’ and give him the permit, when we could take two weeks and find out if DOT and our attorney had anything to say about it – I think that was appropriate.”

Board Chair Fred Henderson was skeptical that the two week delay had such a dramatic effect.

“So waiting two weeks killed the whole thing – unbelievable,” he said.

But Boughter said the days on which the holidays fall this year would have made for longer weekends to draw business. “The two weeks definitely pushed me out,” he said.

Selectman Arnie Jordan, who Boughter singled out particularly for his comments two weeks ago, said he had a clear conscience for wanting to look into the driveway issue before signing the license. “I’m not ashamed of what I have done,” he said.

The board did not get to a discussion of information from MDOT because Boughter dropped his request for the liquor license.

Town Manager Kim Sparks said after the meeting that MDOT told her Boughter would have had to obtain an entrance permit application.

“MDOT said that they felt it would warrant a new application, as they felt that there would be more traffic generated from the bar versus a gem shop,” she said.


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