CAPE ELIZABETH – The Cape Elizabeth Planning Board on Dec. 20 unanimously approved plans to tear down Rudy’s on the Cape at 517 Ocean House Road and replace it with a new 80-seat restaurant built in a Cape Cod style.

Resident Paul Woods bought Rudy’s, a local landmark, on July 7. The combination diner/convenience store closed for three weeks at the end of September, when a previous operating lease ran out. It then reopened Oct. 17, by which time Woods had announced his plans for the 1.16-acre lot.

The new building, with a first floor measuring roughly 2,100 square feet, will have a footprint some 500-square-feet smaller than Rudy’s has now. However, it will have a 900-square foot second floor, for office space and storage. The building will shift closer to David Point Road to make room for a 39-space parking lot.

The restaurant will add booths to the current tables-only de?cor. While no lunch counter was mentioned, there will be an eight-seat bar area. The layout will feature 52 seats inside the restaurant and 28 seats on a seasonal, covered porch. The current Rudy’s will close, probably in March, while the new building is constructed.

“We anticipate it may take about three months to get everything together – the financing and final details,” architect Pat Carroll said.

The board also approved a second phase of development, allowing Woods to set aside about 6,000 square feet between the new Rudy’s and David Point Road for a 1,250-square-foot retail building.

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