It’s not a restaurant. It’s a 10-person eatery with paper, Boothbay Code Enforcement Officer Jason Lorrain said about a change of use request for a new Wiscasset Road business. Lorrain made the statement during the Dec. 16 planning board meeting. Applicants Kimberly Gordon and Paige McLellan are leasing Joan Rittall’s property at 477 Wiscasset Road. The pair requested changing its use from a retail space to a 10-person eatery. Gordon and McLellan will sell wellness products and operate a coffee bar in the eatery.

During the hearing, a planning board member referred to the business as a restaurant. Lorrain corrected him. “It falls under a different classification because of the septic. There are three classifications. The property has tenants upstairs leaving the eatery with 100 gallons of septic per day. So the ordinance allows septic for a 10-person eatery and employees.” Due to limited septic, Gordon said the business would post a sign stating “no public restroom.”

This was the first application the board heard based on the new municipal zoning ordinances voters approved in November. The code office has not received new application forms with the changes, so Gordon and McLellan filled out an old form. The board approved their application with one condition. The applicants must provide Lorrain with an updated parking plan. Gordon said the parking plan includes 10 spaces with each being 9 feet by 18 feet.  

In other action, the board approved the last application under the former ordinances. Bill and Paula Arsenault sought approval for renovating a non-conforming cottage at 15 McCobb Road. The Arsenaults applied prior to the ordinance change. Last month, the board tabled their application due to calculation errors in their proposal. The board reviewed the revised application, and unanimously approved it. 

The meeting was board chairman Sam Morris’ last. At the meeting’s close, he acknowledged a member’s statement it was his final meeting. Morris is resigning because he is moving out of town. He was appointed in 2018 to fill Alan Bellows’ unexpired term. Selectmen later reappointed him in June 2018 for a full three-year term. Morris’ term expires June 30, 2021.

The planning board meets next at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20.