Coffee shop looking to move across town

GREENVILLE — Currently Greenville Grinds Coffee Shoppe owner Lindsey Botello rents at the 3 Lakeview Street   location. Botello is considering purchasing and moving into the former home of Gabriel’s Books at 13 Moosehead Lake Road.

Before doing so she would like to know how the property can be utilized so Botello met with the Greenville Planning Board to learn more during a Nov. 20 meeting.

Botello said she would like to keep an upstairs 2-bedroom living quarters at 13 Moosehead Lake Road. “We wanted to know how many retail spaces could be put in there,” she said.

Code Enforcement Officer Ron Sarol said being in a downtown district, “You are allowed one use for every 2,500 square feet and that building, the lot itself is about 6,100 square feet.”

“I would like to offer affordable rents for resale to keep business in Greenville,” Botello said. “I’m currently a renter, I own Greenville Grinds Coffee Shoppe. I would like to move my shop over there.”   

She said she would like to have another retail space in front with the coffee shop and have a small office space — such as for a 1-person operation — in the rear.

Sarol said the property is about 1,400 square feet short of the needed 7,500 for three businesses but the appeals board can grant variances.

“To me that all sounds reasonable and we would work with you to try to make that happen,” Planning Board Chair John Contreni said.

He said that evening’s initial meeting with the board would be the first in the 6-step process. 

“Our track record is to move everything along as expeditiously as possible,” Contreni said, about helping Botello with the process.

“I think I can speak for the board in that we wish you well with this project,” he said.

In other business, Sarol presented four changes to land use ordinance permit fees. The planning board would give approval to these and later in the evening the changes were formally adopted by an affirmative vote from the select board.

“We don’t have the authority to set fees,” Contreni said about the need to go before the select board.

The four adjustments include increasing the fee for a habitable finished structure to 40 cents a square foot with a minimum of $20 for the permit and increasing a nonhabitable, unfinished structure to 30 cents a square foot with a minimum of $15.

“I get a lot of permits for like a little tiny shed and it ends up being $3.80, it’s not worth the paperwork,” Sarol said.

Also approved was a new $25 fence permit and raising the demolition permit fee to $50 from $25.

In his report Sarol said he sent out a notice of violation for an unpermitted fence and he investigated a dangerous, falling fence neighbors were complaining about. 

He said since the last meeting he has issued nine permits including four for single family homes, two for earth moving, one for a hangar at the airport and another for a shed.

“We’re up to 110 permits so far this year,” Sarol said.