DANVERS — A proposal to transfer the package store liquor license from Top Shelf Liquors on Route 1 to a space in the new Dunkin' Donuts building on Water Street was pulled without explanation from the selectmen's agenda last week.
However, the attorney for the owners of the storefront where it might go said the proposal for "Waterfront Wine & Spirits" has not been shelved, and it should be back in the fall.
"We withdrew it," said Danvers attorney Nancy McCann, who represents Ventura Enterprises Inc., which is seeking to put a liquor store in a 1,450-square-foot space adjacent to the coffee and doughnut shop at 128 Water St. that opened last year.
"There was some disagreement about terms that we thought would get worked out before the hearing," McCann said. "We anticipate it would come back in the early fall."
McCann yesterday did not say what details needed to be ironed out to allow the license transfer from Valdec Enterprises, under manager Peter Decoulos, to Ventura Enterprises, under manager Ana Ventura.
"Whatever Nancy told you was the whole truth," said Peabody attorney Nicholas Decoulos, who is representing Top Shelf Liquors, in a brief interview.
Top Shelf Liquors is in a strip mall at 435 Newbury St., on the north side of town, not far from the Topsfield line.
If approved, the package store would be moved across town to Danversport, where some neighbors like Andrea Daley oppose it.
"There's always people who like things at their convenience," Daley said. "Anyway, for the greater good, it's not the best spot to put a liquor license in town."
She said the state Department of Mental Health is rebuilding a short-term respite home that assists adults with mental-health issues. For some recovering from drug or alcohol addictions, a liquor store a few blocks away with a doughnut shop might prove too much of a temptation, she said. The liquor store may also make the Dunkin' Donuts parking lot more congested and bring more traffic to Water Street.
With just six all-alcoholic package store licenses in town, the southern end would have four liquor stores.
"It's really not serving the needs of the town, the townspeople, who live in the northern part of town," Daley said.
The proposal does not affect the operation of the Dunkin' Donuts, McCann said, but simply takes up a vacant storefront in the building.
"Dunkin' Donuts is alive and well," McCann said.
Staff writer Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673 or by e-mail at eforman@salem news.com.
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