The Finance Commission voted last night to support the selectmen's special Town Meeting article to allow three grocery stores in town to sell beer and wine but decided not to back a separate article that would allow two full liquor licenses to go to any store.
The article to allow three grocers to sell beer and wine comes after the town voted last spring to let the proposed Wegmans supermarket sell beer and wine in their future Westwood Station location.
Despite the spring vote, Finance Commission members said Rick Roche, co-owner of Roche Bros. supermarket, and a Roche hired lobbyist held up the process in the State House arguing that granting only one license put his store and an unfair disadvantage.
State House Rep. Angelo Scaccia, D-Readville, took up the cause of Roche Bros., voicing disapproval of the bill, said the board. Informal House session decisions must be unanimous.
Selectmen Chairman Patrick Ahearn stated that his board attempted to allow for more licenses at spring Town Meeting, but they were unable to legally amend the original Wegmans petition.
In a unanimous vote, many members of the 15-person Finance Commission said they were "righting a wrong" done last spring in not adding more available beer and win licenses.
Ahearn called the article a "compromise" and reported Roche had promised him and Selectman Philip Shapiro that if Town Meeting granted the additional beer and wine licenses he would release the hold he has put on the House of Representatives.
"I believe Rick Roche to be a person of his word," Ahearn said when asked if he trusted Roche after Roche said at spring Town Meeting that he would do the will of the town.
Some Finance Commission members, however, admonished the man, calling the path he took "inappropriate" and "offensive."
Stressing that he spoke only for himself and not his board, Finance Commission Chairman Jim Connors said Roche was "more than wrong."
"I think what happened was horse manure of the highest issue," he said.
Connors said he believed Roche was "hiding behind a monopoly."
"The last thing Rick Roche wanted was to see Wegmans in here," he explained.
In their article, selectmen restricted "grocery stores" to mean a food store "with floor area of more than 1,000 square feet." Convenience stores would not be able to petition for a beer and wine license should the measure pass Town Meeting.
Currently, the only three locations that would qualify would be Roche Bros., Lamberts and High Street Market.
With the commission's and selectmen's unanimous votes on the new petition, the original Wegmans bill could find its way through the House as early as Friday. However, Roche Bros. already has beer and wine licenses in three other locations, the maximum allowed in Massachusetts for a chain. Roche would have to get rid of its three existing licenses to get one in Westwood.
The Finance Commission voted to recommend indefinite postponement on a separate article that would allow two more full liquor licenses that could be granted to any store because of the lack of restrictions involved. The vote was 14-0-1, with Connors abstaining.
Unlike the selectmen's article, the second article does not specify size or type of store.
The commission pointed out Wegmans or another store could potentially petition for a full liquor license if the second article passed and Westwood could have a "100,000-square-foot package store."
Resident David Feyler proposed the article, stating his wish to open a "small mom and pop operation" that would sell liquor and other "age-restricted" products.
If the article were to pass despite the Finance Commission's recommendation, the job of restricting the licenses would fall to selectmen.
