Monday night, JAR Cannabis Co. owner Joel Pepin told the planning board the Lewiston-based company has been in the industry in Maine more than 10 years, and is proposing an adult use cannabis retail store at 564 Bath Road. A property holding company JAR owns has the property under contract and the sale will close by the end of October, he said. "So sometime in the next couple days."

He said the company has eight stores. "So we've been doing this for a while. We don't expect to be a company that's going to be in and out. We plan to be here a long time, as I believe (is) shown in our intent to purchase the property."

Pepin said, as proposed, the store would occupy about  1,400 square feet of the building. The rest of the building would be rented out; a tenant has not yet been identified, he said.

The outside will get no big changes, but security cameras will be added to meet state requirements, Pepin said. The inside will be divided into those two spaces, and there will be an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant bathroom, he said. If the proposal is approved, JAR hopes to start construction this winter "with the goal of trying to open for next spring and summer," Pepin added.

The board found the application complete and gave it to Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Emily Rabbe to review. The town contracts with LCRPC for this.

In September, selectmen tabled JAR's business license request after JAR informed the town it would be amending the application due to the new plans to buy a property.

Also Oct. 28, the planning board found Charm Thai's application complete, subject to an updated survey. As with JAR's proposal, the board gave Rabbe Charm Thai's to review. Stephen Heald proposes the restaurant in the building that last housed Miss Wiscasset Diner in 2019. Norman Sherman bought it earlier this year and is leasing it to Heald.

The board heard from a representative for Sunset Ridge, an approved subdivision on Red Oak Drive. He said the subdivision is partly developed, with foundations and wells; and he asked if, due to the town's changes stemming from LD 2003, more density is an option if a certain amount of affordable housing is included. According to the discussion, changing the plan would need a new approval. "I would love to see you come back with (that)," board member Al Cohen, "speaking as an individual," said about the affordable housing idea.