BURRILLVILLE – At the final meeting for members of the current Burrillville Town Council, the board took unanimous votes to deny licenses to two Burrillville businesses that had reportedly not met the town’s requirements for renewal.
The Conjuring House and Mapleville Farm can continue to operate until Saturday, Nov. 30, when both establishments’ current licenses will expire. The businesses were among dozens in town subject to the renewal process on Monday, Nov. 18, with most licenses approved unanimously with little discussion.
Denial of the entertainment license for the Conjuring House, doing business as Bale Fire LLC, will come as no surprise to those who have followed news headlines over the past year. The business has offered tours and overnight stays to visitors to a 300-year-old farmhouse on Round Top Road made famous by the 2013 hit horror film of the same name since it was first opened in 2020.
It was purchased in 2022 by Jacqueline Nuñez, a real estate developer from Massachusetts, and over the past year, it has seen a barn fire, mass resignations by staff, and complaints regarding labor and other practices with state agencies. Last month, Nuñez was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence and eluding law enforcement, and the Department of Labor and Training recently ordered that the business suspend operations until it can provide proof of insurance.
And last week, NRI NOW reported on submission of a bizarre renewal application that caused the Burrillville Police Department to withhold their stamp of approval from the operation.
On Monday, Police Col. Stephen Lynch expressed his ongoing concerns with the current management to the Town Council, noting there have been issues regarding the presence of overnight staffing and complaints from neighbors.
“My concern is relative to erratic behavior from the applicant – not only with the police department, but with members of the town administration as well,” Lynch said. “I don’t see a way of getting over that.”
Town Manager Michael Wood said the business has also had troubles with the fire marshal.
“Quite frankly, there’s too many problems on the site,” Wood said. “It’s unfortunate, because it was a great business that brought notoriety to the town. “I think they need to get their act together and their ducks in a row.”
The state DLT, meanwhile, has filed suit in Workers’ Compensation Court to enforce the order and levy fines against Nuñez in a case scheduled for a pretrial hearing on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
“They’re going to have to pay fines and penalties,” said Wood. “They will be able to operate until the end of the month.”
Councilor Jeremy Bailey, the only member of the board to vote against approving the business’s license in recent years, repeated his concerns on Monday regarding 24 hour operations. The business has offered overnight stays inside the house as well as camping on the property.
“This is the only license we’ve ever approved in town that is a 24 hour license,” Bailey said. “It’s just not something that we do. I don’t think we should be issuing 24 hour licenses in a residential area.”
For Mapleville Farm, Wood said the owner has been “obstinate” about not wanting to submit the required documents, including items such as insurance information and a background check. He noted that while it is common for the council to pass licenses for businesses missing one of the required documents contingent that all of the required stipulations are later met, the Victory Highway business was missing many items.
Regarding submission he said, “I’m not sure why it hasn’t been, except the person or the family is being difficult.”
“We have met with her several times,” Councilor Stephen Rawson said of one of the owners. “She has failed to appear.”
Councilors denied renewal of both the victualing and entertainment licenses for the business, owned by the Ryan family of Burrillville. The farm typically holds luncheons and other events throughout the year, and has sold various breads, pastries and more since its opening in 2016.
Is it even legal to require background checks of everyone? That seems to be beyond the state laws.
Very disappointed to learn that Mapleville Farm has been denied their license. They have a very good operation and are part of the community. I truly hope the Town Council will give the owners an opportunity to provide the necessary documentation.
Seems they did
They left out the part about how all of a sudden background checks that were done directly through the Police Dept but now have an added risk/bottleneck of going through an inverted third party online then information (we are talking SS#s here) going to the town for whatever reason and THEN to the PD…in an age of cyber fraud and stolen identities there is no reason to have changed this process and opened it to risk.