Kourtnee Langlois and mother-in-law Laurie Dickinson will open a “nutritional shake and energizing tea shop” in the yellow building at 43 Oak St. by early April. The Boothbay Harbor planning board approved the site plan application Jan. 14.

“It's going to be like a grab-and-go style place … on your way to work, a quick meal for the waitresses in town to be able to grab something between shifts,” Langlois said to the board. “We're not looking to have a sit-down restaurant or anything like that … We're going to keep it as safe and as distanced as we can.”

Dickinson said property owner Jim Barnes will include utilities, trash pickup and employee parking out back in the lease which will be drafted after board approval. Barnes will install a take-out window so orders and transactions are kept at a safe distance, she said. “We'll also have a number that they'll be able to call and we'll have (orders) ready for them.”

The board waived part of the site plan review since nothing physical is changing that does not fall under Code Enforcement Officer Geoff Smith’s purview. Chair Tom Churchill noted the only real change is with the use. And Smith said the lot’s square footage can accommodate the tea shop, a vacation rental at the former Oak Street Provisions building and another use Barnes has yet to determine.

At board member Margaret Perritt’s suggestion, the board added a condition to the application’s approval: The rear stairway and decking are for the owner and employees only.

“I think that’s going to help you with your liability insurance,” said Perritt. “(And) what is energizing tea?”

Dickinson said it is a trend coming up through the state and has succeeded in Newcastle, Rockland and elsewhere. “They're all over the place, the teas and protein shakes.”

Said Langlois, “It’s metabolism-boosting tea and it burns calories. It's not like normal Lipton iced tea or anything. You can have less or more caffeine in it and the shakes are a nutritional meal replacement. Everything is sugar free, low calorie, all nutritional.”