This vacant building at 135 Port Road would be renovated for a 100-seat restaurant under a proposal being reviewed by the Kennebunk Site Plan Review Committee. A public hearing has been set for May 4. Tammy Wells photo
KENNEBUNK – The Site Plan Review Committee will conduct a public hearing May 4 on a plan to renovate and convert the former Market Day building at 135 Port Road to a restaurant.
The committee voted unanimously on April 6 that the preliminary plan submitted by Matt and Mariah Dyer was complete.
The Dyers are planning extensive renovations to the building. It is envisioned as a 100-seat restaurant from Memorial Day to Labor Day, said Henry Hess of Sebago Technics, which is representing the Dyers. In the offseason, it is expected the restaurant would seat a maximum of 60 guests.
The 2,300-square-foot building would be renovated, and a patio/deck installed, according to the submission by Sebago Technics. The parking lot would be reconfigured and resurfaced to allow for 12 spaces, rather than the current 11. Two parking spaces, to be maintained and plowed by the business, would be along Port Road.
Sebago Technics pointed out the restaurant would be within 1,000 feet of public parking and so under Kennebunk’s ordinance can reduce the total number of required spaces – in this case, from 25 to 20 – leaving the business to secure the use of six spaces privately, offsite. Hess, at the April 6 meeting, said the applicant is in the process of securing those six spaces.
Site Plan Review Committee member Albert Kolff asked about utilities, noting new projects require utilities to be underground.
Town Planner Brittany Howard said underground utilities are not required with existing buildings.
The applicant does plan to remove the existing septic and hook into the public sewer system.
The April 6 meeting was a “do over,” after staff and members discovered that some abutters had not been properly notified for the March 16 session.
The property has been vacant for some time. A proposal had surfaced at one point, but the pandemic began, and it never came to fruition.
Municipal records show the building was constructed in 1965.
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