WILTON — On Thursday, July 6, the Wilton Planning Board convened at the Wilton town office to review, discuss and produce the finding of facts for their listed agenda items. Noticeably absent from the agenda was the Meadow Lanes bowling alley, located at 907 U.S. Route 2 in Wilton.
Meadow Lanes was the subject of a public hearing for the Planning Board on Thursday, June 15, where potential buyer Frank Berenyi listened to the concerns from local residents and patrons of the bowling alley.
No findings of fact were produced after the public hearing due to an unfiled application. The Planning Board stated at the end of the meeting they would reconvene on Thursday, July 6, to review and discuss once more before making a final decision.
Several individuals voiced their concerns over losing the bowling alley, a staple to the community since 1974, and having it replaced with a marijuana dispensary. Berenyi stated that only a quarter of the bowling alley, approximately 3,000 sq. ft., would be used to facilitate the dispensary.
“My first goal was to go in there, buy it, gut the thing, make it a grow, make it a store and go from there,” Berenyi said at the public hearing. He changed his mind, however, after visiting the location and seeing how important the bowling alley was to the community.
“I went in there, and everybody was bowling, a bunch of older people,” he added. “I felt bad.”
If purchased, Berenyi would keep eight of the 16 lanes open and in operation, with the other half of the bowling alley being converted into a dispensary with a separate entrance from the bowling alley and another undisclosed business venture. At the meeting, Berenyi discussed the potential of putting a dancehall or an arcade in the remaining space, but he had not settled on anything specific.
THE BUSINESS OF CANNABIS
Since recreational cannabis has been legalized in 2016, dispensaries and other cannabis related operations have ramped up with town ordinances restricting where many of these business can operate. This means that certain town spots will have a number of shops selling cannabis products.
Many Wilton residents at the public hearing and beyond have expressed concern over the number of cannabis operations with pending applications. The Wilton Select Board even entertained the idea of having a moratorium put on licenses so that members of the Planning Board and Select Board could review ordinances.
The moratorium was abandoned, with Town Manager Perry Ellsworth feeling that in the time it would take to put it into effect, the zoning ordinances could already have been rewritten.
According to the Planning Board, there are roughly seven to eight businesses that have licenses or have pending applications for either retail, growth and/or cultivation.
When asked at the public hearing, Berenyi stated that he only deals with medical marijuana as he believes the state does not have a grasp on how to handle recreational.
“There’s less money in recreational then there is medical,” Berenyi asserted. “The state doesn’t have a grip on the rec yet. Everyone thinks they do, but they don’t. They’re all messed up.”
Wilton resident Michael Lilley stated that there were already five shops in the area and adding a sixth one would be unnecessary.
Berenyi responded by saying the bowling alley was the only property that fit the ordinances for medical marijuana retail in the town of Wilton.
“I’ll be honest with you, if you guys have another building, I would gladly step away and do that,” he stated. “There isn’t. This is not me.”
THE BUSINESS OF BOWLING
Lilley, who is also the president of a local bowling league with over 50 participants, came on behalf of his league to express concern over what losing half of the bowling alley would mean for his league. Lilley explained that his league has grown steadily over the years and reducing the number of lanes will have a severe impact on the members.
“We’ve gone from five lanes up to 15 lanes over the years,” Lilley stated, “building up and we’re still growing, so the business isn’t dead. The business will keep going, and if others step up to that level of encouragement, it will continue to go.”
At the meeting, Lilley asserted there were only two bowling alleys in Franklin Country [Meadow Lanes in Wilton and Moose Alley in Rangeley]. However, since the original article, it has been brought to the attention of the Livermore Falls Advertiser there is a third bowling alley in Carrabassett Valley called Sugarbowl.
Jeff Chaisson, co-owner of Ambition Brewing and a member of a bowling league for over 20 years, disagreed with Berenyi when he asserted that the bowling alley was not a viable business for the property.
“I don’t buy the talk of this not being a feasible business,” Chaisson stated. “I think [the owner] has done just fine with the business. I think it needs some update, and it does need some investment and some rejuvenation.”
According to Berenyi, his perspective is that if the building doesn’t break $200,000 to $300,000 a year off a $400,000 investment, it is not worth the risk. “You could put a self-storage unit there that would make more money than a bowling alley,” he stated.
Neither Berenyi nor the owner could be reached for comment. With the application unfiled, it remains uncertain if the bowling alley, although still for sale, will have a dispensary built in the location.
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