Schooner Landing owner Scott Folsom points to the site plan for the restaurant’s new building, which the Damariscotta Planning Board approved in their meeting on Monday, Feb. 2. Folsom said he plans to make the new building resemble a rennovated fish house, “When you walk in, I want it to feel like its been there for 100 years he said. (Claire Taylor photo)
Almost a year after receiving permission to rebuild the restaurant’s pier, Schooner Landing Restaurant and Marina’s co-owners have been granted permission for the construction of a building.
The Damariscotta Planning Board unanimously approved an application from co-owner Scott Folsom for the reconstruction on Tuesday, Feb. 2.
“There you go, chum. Good luck!” Chair Jonathan Eaton said to Folsom after the board’s vote.
Schooner Landing was destroyed in an overnight electrical fire Sept. 1, 2024. After two months of investigation, the Office of State Fire Marshal ruled the fire accidental. Investigators found that electrical circuitry under the pier likely overheated and caused the fire, Maine Department of Public Safety Public Information Officer Shannon Moss said Nov. 25, 2024.
On March 3, 2025, Folsom received permission from the Damariscotta Planning Board to reconstruct the restaurant’s pier and operate a food truck for the summer. Schooner Landing opened July 2, 2025, just before the holiday weekend.
“It was a big lift to get open in eight months, but we did,” Folsom said during the Feb. 2 meeting.
Folsom’s application detailed the proposed construction of a 30-foot-by-40-foot three-season room with a 30-foot-by-10-foot “bump out” and a 30-foot-by-30-foot roof structure to cover the “cooking sheds.”
The plan is to continue operating the restaurant with its current setup this summer, and begin work as soon as it closes for the season in the fall, Folsom told the board.
Town Planner Michael Martone explained though Schooner Landing’s proposed uses of the property – for a marina, aquaculture, and a drinking place – do not conform to the town’s current land use ordinance, they are lawful.
“Nonconforming uses expire … if you stop them for more than a year. None of the uses have stopped for more than a year because they were in operation,” Martone said.
Other items of discussion in the board’s review was a stormwater management plan, which Folsom and the board agreed had been addressed in the reconstruction of the pier.
“We brought in that 9,000 truckloads of rock to restabilize the bank. Not much erosion going on,” said Folsom.
The new building will be smaller than its predecessor, Martone said.
“Everything we’re building now is well within that footprint,” Folsom said.
Folsom said he plans to keep using the existing modular kitchen with new building.
Schooner Landing owner Scott Folsom and his wife, Katie, smile during the Damariscotta Planning Board’s Feb. 2 review of their permit to construct a new building to house the restauraunt. The new building will be further over than the prior structure for an expanded view, which customers have loved in the current set up, Folsom said. (Claire Taylor photo)
“We’re going to keep using it. I mean, it worked great, I don’t see any reason to spend another two or $300,000 to rebuild the kitchen,” he said. “We were able to do as many meals out of that as we always did. And more actually, it was more efficient in a lot of ways, because we were able to design it from scratch.”
The new building will have an expanded view of the waterfront, which customers have loved in the current setup, Folsom said.
The new building’s appearance will fit with its surroundings, according to Folsom.
“The idea would be to try to make it look like an old fish house that was renovated … When you walk in, I want it to feel like it’s been there for 100 years,” he said.
Conditions of approval for the application were an updated permit by rule from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, which will certify that the project will not significantly affect the environment, as well as review and approval of the plans by the Damariscotta fire chief for compliance with fire codes.
Folsom said that he had initially hoped to start the work this winter, but reconsidered.
“All my people looked at me and said, ‘Can we take like, one winter off?’ We’ve been building that place like five years in a row, before the fire. So we’ll do one summer where we can just open and go without a project,” Folsom said.
Once construction starts, he is hoping for a quick turnaround, he said.
“I’ll hopefully get it all buttoned up before the snow comes next fall,” Folsom said.
The Damariscotta Planning Board will next meet at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 2 at the town office. For more information, call 563-5168 or go to damariscotta.maine.gov.
The Damariscotta Planning Board and town planner Michael Martone face Schooner Landing owner Scott Folsom and his wife, Katie, during their meeting on Monday, Feb. 2. The board approved Folsom’s application for a permit to build a new building on the restaurant’s pier thanks to grandfather clauses in the land use and shoreland ordinances, which legally allow nonconformance.
