A restaurant and beer garden proposed for lower Main Street received site plan approval this week from the South Berwick Planning Board, after nearly a year of contentious communication between the town and the proprietors.
A group of about two dozen friends, family and residents attending the July 19 Planning Board meeting broke into applause when Chair Greg Zinser announced the decision after the unanimous vote to approve the site plan for the Happy Valley Wine and Beer Garden.
This week’s decision paves the way for property owners Roxanne Poulin and Sam Flinkstrom to apply for a building permit from the code enforcement office.
Under terms of the board’s approval, live music must end at 9 p.m, fencing must be changed to address safety concerns, and food must be prepared and served on the premises, with take-out not being a major component of the business.
Police Chief David Ruger signed off on the plan, but voiced reservations about the restaurant using street parking and the impact on the neighborhood.
In approving the site plan, the board granted three waivers that exempt the business from providing off-street parking, as a parking study found adequate street parking for patrons; a storm water management plan by a Maine-licensed engineer, not required because the lot is less than one acre; and the location of septic tanks and leach fields, not needed because the area will be serviced by the Sewer District.
The owners plan to apply to the town for an on-street handicapped parking space, Poulin said.
They haven’t set a firm date to open the restaurant but “will be working toward it every day,” she said.
“We were blown away by the positive remarks during the public hearing…. and the eruption of applause by the public upon our approval,” she said. “We think the range of generations of attendees last night breathed a new life in the room, something we hadn’t seen over the last year, and hope that it reflects our patrons at Happy Valley.”
