Photo: Star Market in Belmont.

“Sooner than later.”

Those were the words of Star Market General Manager and Vice President Steve Duran when asked by the Belmontonian the date Massachusetts Lottery tickets, and card games will be sold at the supermarket’s Waverley Square outlet after the Belmont Board of Selectmen unanimously approved a request by the state’s lottery commission to resume their sale at its board meeting on Monday, Oct. 16.

The approval comes a year after the supermarket chain agreed not to sell lottery tickets as a condition by the board to the transfer of a full retail liquor license for $450,000 from The Loading Zone. The restriction was part of a long-standing practice by the selectmen to decouple the sale of both tobacco and lottery products to retail establishments acquiring any town-issued alcohol license. 

But since the transfer, the state lottery had quietly lobbied the town to reintroduce sales its products. Officials noted the state returned $2.2 million in lottery revenue to Belmont in the 2017 fiscal year in direct local aid. 

The sitting Board of Selectmen earlier this year indicated a willingness to assist the lottery – which has seen activity flatten for the past few years – by returning sales to Belmont locations with retail licenses.