DURHAM – The Durham Planning Board is scheduled to continue reviewing the application from the founder of Casco Bay Brewing Co. to open a small brewery in Durham. The board’s meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 5., in the Durham Town Offices.

Deb Larrabee, the Planning Board’s secretary, said that the board will finish its review of Michael LaCharite’s application to turn the site of a former seafood business on Pinkham Brook Road into the brewery for Katahdin Beers, which LaCharite described last month as “high-quality specialty beers.”

LaCharite first appeared before the board at its last meeting on Aug. 1. The board reviewed the application at that meeting, but did not take any action. Larrabee said that the board would discuss the application and if all is in order, could possibly vote on a conditional use permit at the September meeting. She said a vote is contingent on the board having no further questions on the application, and if there were remaining issues, the vote would be delayed.

After his initial appearance before the board in August, LaCharite, who founded Casco Bay Brewing in 1994, said he hopes to have all of his local approvals and state and federal licenses in place soon so he can begin operations by the end of this year.

While he has run large breweries in the past, LaCharite said that won’t be the case this time. His intention is to keep the business very small, turning out high-quality, specialty beers.

“I plan on doing most of it myself,” he said, adding that he expects to have three or four employees “at the most.” “I want to keep this small. I want to keep it so I can manage it myself.”


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.