Orono planners give approval to new restaurant Ushuaia to build 64-seat addition

ORONO – Alex Gray, owner of the town’s only nightclub, Ushuaia, received approval from the planning board Monday night to proceed with a 64-seat restaurant addition to the front of the facility.

The board voted unanimously in favor of the 1,800-square-foot addition, pending the submission of a more detailed site plan.

Gray described the venture as a chance to expand his clientele.

“Many people in Orono don’t know what Ushuaia is,” Gray said. “This will give us an opportunity to offer [the club] to more people.”

Gray said another reason for the restaurant was the request of his patrons, adding that many don’t finish work until 11 p.m. He mentioned toying with the idea of serving breakfast after the nightclub closed at 1 a.m.

“People have traveled to Denny’s and Dysart’s after we’ve closed because there’s nothing at that hour when you have the ‘munchies,'” Gray said.

Police Chief Albert Dravidzius told the planning board that current noise from the club should be a concern for the board when considering the addition. He said that 6 percent of the department’s workload was attributed to the nightclub – the majority of which was noise violations.

“If we expand on that, would 64 more seats impact that?” he asked the board.

Gray didn’t see the problem in the same light.

“There are 208 days a year we’re in operation, and in the last year we’ve had four noise complaints,” Gray said. “I don’t see this as being an ongoing problem.”

Gray added that the addition wouldn’t contribute to any possible noise coming from the club.

“It’s not like we’re adding a second dance floor or bar,” Gray said. “There isn’t a big opportunity for more noise.”

Although Dravidzius said that the nightclub hasn’t had any problems with on-street parking, some board members questioned whether parking would be adequate with the addition of a restaurant.

Site designer Bruce Crawford of Carpenter Associates said the state requires one parking space for every three seats. With the addition of the restaurant, the occupancy of the building would be 294. The site plan called for the creation of 16 additional spaces, upping the lot capacity to 98, thereby putting the facility in line with state requirements.

In other items, residents Sandra Cyrus and Fatima Munson each received approval from the board to run businesses out of their home. Cyrus hopes to start yoga classes at Full Circle Yoga in October and Munson is planning to serve Moroccan takeout at Fatima Baraka beginning in March.