WAYLAND - Selectmen have approved a new liquor license that a Crest Road restaurant needs to resume serving alcoholic drinks.
The license for The Dudley Chateau now goes to the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission for approval.
Selectmen did not hear concerns about the business during a hearing on Monday, board Chairwoman Lea Anderson said.
The restaurant had been operating on a liquor license that listed former owner Dennis Sullivan.
But, that license expired at the end of 2017 and could not be renewed because of ongoing litigation between Sullivan and Ken and Mandy Phillips, who bought the business in 2012, according to town and court documents.
The Phillipses somehow convinced the town that Sullivan was still acting as manager despite living in assisted living for the past decade and having no involvement with the business since 2012, Sullivan attorney David Crossley wrote in a complaint filed in Middlesex Superior Court.
The lawsuit seeks in part to prevent Sullivan’s name from being used on the restaurant’s liquor and common victualler license
The Phillipses argued they faced challenges because of Sullivan’s health, the death of an attorney, deficient corporate tax filings and outstanding owed taxes as they tried to remove his name. Those problems have been resolved, they wrote in court documents.
The restaurant now has a common victualler license listing Mandy Phillips. And, the new liquor license also lists her, according to the town.
Brian Benson can be reached at 508-626-3964 or bbenson@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @bbensonmwdn.