After several rounds of review, the Boothbay Harbor planning board on Aug. 14 conditionally approved a minor subdivision at the former Beach Cove Waterfront Inn.  

The proposed project, first brought to the board in April, is a four-lot subdivision on the site of the inn at 48 Lakeview Road, which burned down in 2022. The board reviewed the application several times, with multiple requests for more information and clarification. Throughout the process, including two public hearings, the board and neighbors paid particular attention to the project’s potential environmental impact on West Harbor Pond.  

At the Aug. 14 meeting, surveyor Nicholas Plumer, representing Andrei Elizarkov, presented the final documents and information the board requested. These included approval letters from the water, fire and sewer departments and several changes and clarifications to the site plan.  

The board voted 3-1 to conditionally approve the plan if all changes in the notes and conditions were made. Board members Tom Minerich, David Cody and Jon Dunsford voted “yea.” Merritt Blakeslee, who voted against the motion, expressed some concern with the project and said he thought there were two “significant instances of noncompliance” with shoreland zoning requirements. 

The project will now go before the board of selectmen to approve financial guarantees before building permits can be issued.  

In other business, the board unanimously approved a shoreland permit for Boothbay Harbor to replace a shed at 69 Atlantic Ave., currently rented by Harbor Bait. “The building is in disrepair. We’ve got a band aid on it as this point,” Town Manager Julia Latter said, describing a piece of plywood patching a hole in the roof.