Plymouth Board of Health Closes Tobacco Permit Loophole, Cuts Active Cap to 43

PLYMOUTH — December 17, 2025 — Plymouth's Board of Health voted unanimously to tighten its tobacco permit rules, dropping the effective cap on retail tobacco licenses from 47 to 43 and closing a loophole that allowed surrendered permits to remain available for new applicants. Health Agent Karen Keane brought the correction, saying the intent when the regulation was originally drafted was always that a retired permit would shrink the pool permanently — "I understood that to be the intent, and it even actually refers to language that should be there, but it's not." The board also worked through six restaurant grease trap variance cases: approving passive-grease-trap exemptions for Cafe Strega, Tuscany Tavern, a Water Street restaurant operated by Heather Casey, a bar identified as Fawn's, and the not-yet-opened Promise Keeper Coffee at 46 Court Street, while unanimously denying a variance for Pillory Pub — meaning that establishment must now install an automatic grease trap on its three-bay sink. Two cases tied to structural damage from Water Street sewer construction — Mamma Mia's and Ziggy's — were tabled to the board's second February meeting, with owners citing active litigation against the town and Northern Construction and warning that new equipment could be destroyed when excavation resumes.