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FOXBORO - Voters Monday night told the Kraft Group: Go ahead, order steel for Patriot Place.

In one of the biggest turnouts in Foxboro history, voters at the annual town meeting overwhelmingly told selectmen to ask the Legislature to grant the town 12 additional liquor licenses.

The exact vote, in the Foxboro High School auditorium, was unavailable at press time.

The licenses will be available to restaurants and other tenants at Patriot Place, the 1.3 million-square-foot mixed-use development under construction next to Gillette Stadium on Route 1. The project includes two areas: a south plaza, where retailers such as sporting goods giant Bass Pro Shops are planned; and the north plaza, where restaurants and boutiques are envisioned.

Kraft Group officials had said they would not build the north plaza unless liquor licenses became available for the tenants. The Krafts said they needed voters to approve the license proposal Monday night - and no later - to maintain their construction schedule. The south plaza is scheduled to open around Thanksgiving; the north plaza, in the summer of 2008.

In exchange for approving the home rule petition, the Krafts agreed to pay the town more than $14.8 million in mitigation, including $7.5 million in municipal water and wastewater improvements.

"It's great for the town. It's great for us. It's great for the Route 1 corridor," Kraft spokesman Dan Murphy said after the vote.

Some opponents said they did not have enough information to vote Monday night.

Alden Street resident Joan Gallivan proposed postponing the vote until the June 11 special town meeting, when some related requests will reach voters.

"I don't like to be pushed into voting when I don't have the big picture," Gallivan said.

MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached at 508-236-0372 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.