The Boothbay Harbor planning board approved a shoreland permit March 13 for interior construction at 16 Wharf St. to combine Mine Oyster with Wharf Street Restaurant. 

Ralph Smith, who leases 16 Wharf St. and runs the two businesses, said he wants to turn the two establishments into a single space to make Mine Oyster one big restaurant. He said there will be two menus, performance space, multiple bars, and customers can go anywhere in the building with a drink. 

“Two cool environments, two different experiences in the same building is what we are looking for,” Smith said, adding he likes to think about the new component as “Wharf Street by Mine Oyster.” He expects the project to be finished in May.  

Smith said municipal code requires a wall removed because customers have to easily go from one building to the next in order to have a single liquor license, which is his plan. The project requires shoreland permit approval from the planning board, which unanimously granted it. 

The move came after the selectboard revoked the victualer’s license of Wharf Street Restaurant and Bar in September for not having all of the state-required licenses, as reported in the Register. Smith said he was not affiliated with the business at the time. He said he got it in November. 

In other business, the board reviewed its Feb. 14 conditional site plan approval of the affordable housing development on Alexander Way. The review came at the request of municipal attorney John Cunningham, who wanted clarification on the board’s decision to write the written version. The decision was not reopened or altered. 

However, later in the meeting, the board attempted to confirm that Boothbay Region Housing Trust (BRHT) met the conditions, which were proof it is financially able to complete the project; and a site plan showing the details of domestic water. 

According to the board, BRHT had not yet proven it met the requirements. After discussion around clarification from the board, Cunningham and BHRT, representatives from BRHT agreed they could deliver the appropriate documents quickly. At the board’s suggestion, a BRHT representative left the meeting to attempt to retrieve the documents before adjournment. She was unsuccessful.  

To avoid a special meeting, board members planned to individually review the documents to see if the conditions are met and then individually report to the code enforcement officer, Geoff Smith. Smith later said the review is underway.