At the June 11 Boothbay Harbor Planning Board meeting, the plans for the demolition and rebuilding of 8 Wharf Street (the former Windjammer shop) were unanimously approved by the board. At the Boothbay Harbor selectmen's meeting held two days prior, the request for closure of the Byway and Wharf Street during construction and demolition was also approved with several conditions.

The Byway will to open for normal traffic between Friday at 3 p.m. and Monday at 7 a.m.; the signs to warn drivers of two-way traffic will say “Traffic open to residents and business patrons only” rather than simply “residents”; every effort will be made to build the fencing to not block The Cannery from view; and contractors will not take up all nearby parking spots.

Another condition was that a fire truck must be able to make it's way down (and back) the Byway, going the wrong direction. This condition was tested early the next morning by Fire Chief Nick Upham, and was successful.

The last condition is that the closure is limited to a 30-day maximum, rather than a blanket six months. Every 30 days, those involved with the project will meet with the selectmen and give updates on the project before the closure is extended another 30 days. This will ensure that the timeline is being adhered to as much as possible, problems haven't arisen with nearby residents, and that everything is working smoothly for all involved.

“If this project is a go, we want it to be as successful and pain-free as possible for all,” Chairman Denise Griffin said.

The planning board's decision to approve the plans came after a lot of debate, especially about utility lines and the rooftop's non-liveable space. The ordinance code stated that any new utility lines need to be placed underground, but the board was divided on whether or not lines that were being disconnected and then reconnected counted as “new” lines. Also, since a rooftop deck will be on half the roof, there was concern about residents using the non-liveable area of the roof for storage (which will be rubber coated with rock and/or gravel).

Board member John Hochstein suggested that lines should be placed underground unless the builder could show doing so would create hardship.

Code Enforcement Officer Geoff Smith was opposed to this idea.

“Who decides what is 'undue' hardship?” Smith said. “Maybe the cost would be $5,000. For some that might be fine, for others, impossible. A framework needs to exists to make these decision, and none currently does.”

Clif Cane, owner of The Cannery, was also opposed to the idea.

“Look down there, there are already a ton of lines. They are trying to make the area look better by changing the connection, and you shouldn't pick on him and put it all on one guy,” Cane said.

“I resonate with Geoff,” board member Andy Shepard said. “I believe this ordinance was intended to be for new projects, not in cases like this. This slope is slippery.”

To resolve the issue, the board took a vote on requiring utility lines to be placed underground. The motion failed 2-3, with John Hochstein and Tom Churchill for and Andrew Shepard, Chris Swanson and Board Chairman Mike Tomko against.

Smith was also against requirements in the plan that limited the use of the non-deck roof area, as the law already stipulates it cannot be used as living space.

“They say they are not using that part of the roof. They have given us no reason to disbelieve them, and roof is not considered floor area,” Smith said. “It is not legal to limit the use of a building, and it's a really bad precedent to set.”

A vote was taken on this, which failed 2-3 with John Hochstein and Tom Churchill for and Andrew Shepard, Chris Swanson, and Board Chairman Mike Tomko against.

The board did place an encouragement in its approval that 8 Wharf Street look into placing the utility lines underground, but it is not a requirement of the approval. The plan passed with all five board member for it.

Demolition is set to begin right after Halloween 2014, and construction will continue through spring 2015.

The Byway will be open during some longer periods during the weekdays when construction would not be taking place. These include Thanksgiving and Black Friday, Men's/Family Night, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year’s Day, and Presidents’ Day. According to the schedule provided by Adam Maltese of Knickerbocker Group, the schedule also calls for closures to be limited to only Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays by the second week of April. By May 1, the temporary fences are scheduled to be removed.

During construction, the sidewalk that starts at TidePools (the former Village Market) and extends down to the pier will be removed. This sidewalk was scheduled to be reconstructed anyways, as it is considered uneven and unsafe. 8 Wharf Street has agreed to foot half the cost of rebuilding this sidewalk, the cost of which has been estimated at $24,390, according to Public Works Director Jody Lewis. There are other off-site projects in the area being discussed between the town and 8 Wharf Street LLC, the costs for which would also be most likely split.

Selectman Russ Hoffman asked if anyone remembered a project of this magnitude ever being planned before in the downtown area. Vice Chairman Jay Warren said the biggest project in his memory was from 1963, when the water lines were put in, and this was the biggest downtown project he could recall since then.

“When this building is done, it will probably be the safest building in the area,” Smith said.