BURRILLVILLE – The owner of a property on Victory Highway that has held a long string of businesses in recent decades has obtained a permit needed to increase the lot’s income potential.
Owner Jack Chapman obtained a special use permit from the Burrillville Zoning Board for a mixed use building at 1950 Broncos Highway, an approval that will potentially allow him to sell the property with a legal apartment situated above the current structure’s restaurant.
The 3.5 acre property features a 3,461-square-foot building built in 1962, used in recent years as dine-in restaurant space, as well as recreation facilities including batting cages and a mini-golf course. Chapman, an Uxbridge, Mass. resident purchased the lot from former owner Philip Oakley for $500,000 in late 2021 with wife Laura Chapman, with plans to operate a restaurant and rehabilitate the outdoor space.
The iconic property has held businesses including Mr. Doughboy’s, Sweet Caroline’s, Oakley’s and more in years past, with each new owner funding improvements, from kitchen updates to the acquisition of a liquor license.
Under Chapman’s ownership, a section that previously featured a go kart track was turned into extra parking, and activities including weekly cornhole tournaments and a mini-arcade were added to the warm-weather fun.
But closure of the busy road the runs in front of the business may have hindered the Chapmans’ efforts, as traffic was detoured off of Route 102 for most of 2022 for repair of the Mohegan Bridge. After sinking funds into multiple renovations, the owner listed it for sale for $699,900 in February of 2023, after less than one year in business.
Despite well-publicized rumors of potential buyers, it remains on the market.
The lot was marketed as a live/work space, leading Zoning Official Steven Detonnancourt to point out that the property was not approved as mixed-use space, and a one-bedroom apartment above the restaurant should not be advertised as such.
Chapman took action to remedy the problem, telling members of the Zoning Board in June that the apartment already existed when he bought the lot, and he was not informed that it never received proper approval. Fire code inspections conducted prior to multiple sales, he noted, had all passed.
Asked if the approval would help him sell the property, Chapman told zoners it would, according to the resolution published following a public hearing on the permit.
Zoners approved the permit unanimously with no stipulations with little discussion.
