Billerica Select Board caps new sports bar hours at 11 p.m., approves license

BILLERICA — June 1, 2026 — Billerica Select Board approves new sports bar license at long-troubled Nutting Lake site, capping hours at 11 p.m. The board voted 5-0 at its June 1 meeting to grant Playoff Sports Bar LLC at 512 Middlesex Turnpike an all-alcohol restaurant, common victualer's, and entertainment license, reducing the applicant's requested 1 a.m. closing time after multiple Lake Street abutters testified that late-night noise has rattled their homes and shaken walls for years across multiple ownership groups. Resident Yinyan Wang told the board that in 2024, a prior operator's hours were briefly reduced to 11 p.m. and noise complaints dropped to one, only to return 13 days after 1 a.m. hours were restored. The board also unanimously accepted approximately $2.72 million in MassDOT grants — $1 million for an Ichabod Lane culvert, $720,364 for Pollard Street sidewalks, and $998,910 for Boston Road intersection improvements — and voted to issue Town Engineer Kelly Conway a formal letter of recognition for securing the funding. A first reading of a water and sewer rate proposal drew sharp debate, with Select Board Member Michael Rosa challenging a consultant-driven plan calling for two or three consecutive 10 percent sewer rate increases to eliminate a general fund subsidy, saying the board had not been adequately consulted on the policy direction; staff were directed to return with a tiered-rate third scenario before any vote is taken.