The Lewiston
City Council voted to ease some liquor licensing restrictions.
LEWISTON – Bar owners who are willing to spend a little more money are welcome downtown, planners said Monday.
However, adult bookstores and their ilk will have to look elsewhere.
“There was a lot of discussion about what the city should be doing, what should be regulated,” City Planner Dave Hediger said. “There were definitely some different thoughts going around the room.”
The City Council voted last week to encourage restaurants that serve liquor to move downtown by easing some licensing restrictions. The Planning Board took that a step further Monday, loosening restrictions on bigger drinking establishments.
Current zoning allows two bars to be next to each other downtown. A third bar has to be more than 300 feet away, however. Under a new proposal, the city would give bars and nightclubs with first floors bigger than 5,000 square feet a pass on that restriction.
“The idea is that developing a bigger space is naturally going to be more expensive,” Hediger said. “If someone wants to put that much money into that kind of a space, that’s a significant investment. That’s the kind of establishment we are trying to attract.”
In November, the city put a moratorium on new bars in the downtown while leaders looked for ways to bring some class to the area. The Centreville area – which includes the Bates Mill and the Southern Gateway on Lisbon Street – has been the city’s economic development focus lately. Oxford Networks, Andover College and VIP Auto Discount Center all are moving into the gateway on Lisbon Street.
The Planning Board also recommended banning adult amusements – including pornography bookstores and shops – from the downtown. Current businesses would be allowed to stay but not expand and new stores couldn’t be built.
Both recommendations are scheduled to go to the City Council in March, Hediger said.
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