Wilmington Select Board Adopts Alcohol Rules, Approves Chipotle License, Signs Town Meeting Warrant

WILMINGTON — March 4, 2026 — Wilmington Select Board adopts updated alcohol license rules, signs Annual Town Meeting warrant headlined by $16 million fire substation article. The board voted five to zero Wednesday to approve a comprehensive overhaul of the town's alcohol licensing regulations, the product of months of work by the Economic Development Committee chaired by Joe Maselly of 25 North Street, who called the new rules long overdue. Town Manager Eric Hooper previewed 31 non-petitioned warrant articles for the May 2 Annual Town Meeting, including $4 million to replenish capital stabilization drawn down for a school project, $1 million to OPEB, $2.7 million for the Wilbur Street Water Booster Station, and $311,771 as Wilmington's share of the Shawsheen Valley Technical High School MSBA feasibility study. The board also heard extended public comment from residents of Hensy Way and adjacent streets, who have lived with smoke from a smoldering seven-month-old wood chip pile at 333 Andover Street since early September; the Board of Health issued a 60-day mitigation order the prior evening, and Hooper said a legal access and lien agreement requiring four property-owner signatures is expected to be transmitted to opposing counsel within days. The board separately granted a victualler license to Chipotle Mexican Grill, set to open at 208 Main Street around April 15.