KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine — The Breakwater Inn is seeking to add more guest rooms and provide a new place where families, wedding parties, and others can stay overnight.
Stephanie Francis, a representative of the Breakwater Inn, told the local Planning Board on Oct. 15 the inn owners want to convert four spas on the second floor of the lodging building at 127 Ocean Ave. into four guest rooms.
“We’re not doing any changes outside of the building,” Francis said. “It’s all just on that second floor.”
Francis also told the board that the owners would like to convert the staff house on its property at 133 Ocean Ave. into a “single-key” guest house for one party of individuals per overnight stay. The house would have four bedrooms and one bathroom.
Board Chair Edward Francis and Vice Chair George Lichte had questions about how both proposed renovations would impact the configuration of parking spaces on the property. Francis noted such details were not available in the paperwork the inn submitted to the town. Lichte said he wanted to see visuals of how parking at the inn currently looks, so that he could get a sense of how it may change.
“This is not a complete application yet, absent the parking information,” Board Chair Edward Francis said. “That’s the only thing we’re worried about.”
Code and planning coordinator Nadia Crockett-Current said the fact the property is within the town’s Shoreland Zone District might not come into play, as the proposed renovations are internal, but added that it could change if the configuration of parking spaces is altered.
“That’s what we’ll have to review – whether the parking standards are being met,” Crockett-Current said.
Francis informed Crockett-Current that the sewer district had verified the project falls within the system’s capacity
The proposed renovations are a continuation of new attractions at the inn since it changed ownership in late 2024. The new owners added the destination to its other coastal properties, which include Mabel’s Lobster Claw, Robert’s Maine Grill, Bob’s Clam Shack, and The Maine Catch.
Port Fish and Chop House, a new restaurant at the inn, opened on July 1. The restaurant is in the space formerly occupied by Stripers Waterside Restaurant, but it’s larger as the underused, adjacent rooms are now a part of the dining experience, Alexandra Diaz, the public relations and communications director for the Breakwater, said during a tour in July.
Open to the public and to guests at the inn, the restaurant already has attracted at least one well-known celebrity patron: Martha Stewart dined there in August, according to the inn’s Facebook page.
link