VASSALBORO, ME — The place used to be called the Grand View Motel, but a proposal to turn the now-vacant building into something with an even grander view has residents of rural Vassalboro, ME, covering their eyes and opening their mouths.On Tuesday night, a businessman who has remained anonymous so far will address the city’s planning board about his desire to open a topless coffee shop at the site. The log-cabin-looking structure has been unoccupied for four years, and a new business in the spot could provide the town with much-needed jobs and tax revenue. That pleases some local residents.
“I say bring the money in,” Kevin Goodrich told WMTW-TV. “People need jobs and it’s a good place to go. The economy’s not very good right now, so why not do it?”
Others are steamed.
“We just found out about it this morning and we are opposed to it,” Debbie Jordan, who takes pride in Vassalboro’s rustic, homespun atmosphere, told WMTW-TV. “It’s not going to bring in a good crowd, and we’ve had those kinds of things in the past with it being a bar and it can get very loud.”
The city may have no choice but to approve the coffee shop’s business application. Vassalboro’s planning board has no authority to regulate employee attire, and neither the city nor the county has adopted adult-business regulations.
As long as the coffee shop meets the requirements of ordinances that regulate traffic, parking and lighting, the board will approve the application, the chairman told WMTW.
