MADISON -- A Saco businessman who hoped to open a topless coffee bar on Main Street promised Thursday to reconsider after residents spoke out against his plans at a Planning Board meeting.
Normand St Michel said he was surprised at the reaction to his proposal and promised residents outside the meeting that he took their concerns seriously.
"I was all for it when I came here, but now I am split down the middle," he said. He added his wife was also against the plan.
Ann Harsh, who works at a convenience store on Main Street, was one of those voicing opposition and said outside the Planning Board meeting that she was glad St Michel was having second thoughts. Madison has plenty of places where people can get a cup of coffee and doesn't need one that focuses on sex, she said.
"If it revolved more around coffee and Danishes and antiques, that is one thing," said Harsh, of Madison.
And she pointed out that the prospect of semi-nude waitresses serving hot coffee could be hazardous. Geneva Asselin of Madison, who has two grown children, worried that the business could give the town a bad name.
Despite residents' concerns about the business' effect on young people and parking, as well as the fact that a church was only a few blocks away, Planning Board members quickly decided that the proposal did not require their approval under the site review ordinance.
http://www.centralmaine.com/news/local/430559.shtml
Normand St Michel said he was surprised at the reaction to his proposal and promised residents outside the meeting that he took their concerns seriously.
"I was all for it when I came here, but now I am split down the middle," he said. He added his wife was also against the plan.
Ann Harsh, who works at a convenience store on Main Street, was one of those voicing opposition and said outside the Planning Board meeting that she was glad St Michel was having second thoughts. Madison has plenty of places where people can get a cup of coffee and doesn't need one that focuses on sex, she said.
"If it revolved more around coffee and Danishes and antiques, that is one thing," said Harsh, of Madison.
And she pointed out that the prospect of semi-nude waitresses serving hot coffee could be hazardous. Geneva Asselin of Madison, who has two grown children, worried that the business could give the town a bad name.
Despite residents' concerns about the business' effect on young people and parking, as well as the fact that a church was only a few blocks away, Planning Board members quickly decided that the proposal did not require their approval under the site review ordinance.
http://www.centralmaine.com/news/local/430559.shtml
