Camden hearing set for Wayfarer proposal to expand boatyard

CAMDEN – Wayfarer Marine, a fixture on Camden Harbor, is hoping to consolidate some of its workshops to gain a competitive edge in the yacht repair business.

The project, estimated to cost $2 million, has been presented to the town planning board.

Code Enforcement Officer Jeff Nims said the proposal is a permitted use under town zoning rules, but an extensive review is expected because of its size and proximity to the waterfront.

A glitch has developed, Nims said, after some of the land was shown as separate parcels owned by Wayfarer Partners LLC and Wayfarer Marine Corp.

According to its application, the company wants to build a 33,600-square-foot, steel-sided workshop off Arey Avenue, northeast of the harbor. The building would consist of an 18,000-square-foot storage area with six 26-foot-by-100-foot work bays attached.

The average height of the structure would be 37 feet.

Each bay would allow Wayfarer’s crew to work on a boat. The company stores, repairs and retrofits high-end yachts.

Kevin McMahon, Wayfarer’s chief financial officer, said Thursday that the new work areas will be insulated and heated, making year-round work easier on employees. The bays will also provide the space and mechanical amenities to allow for efficient work, he said.

Wayfarer employs 70 people full time, he said, and 20 more in the peak summer months.

“A lot of our business now is competing internationally,” McMahon said, especially with the United Kingdom and Finland.

If work can’t be completed because of cold weather, he said, boat owners will use yards elsewhere. If Wayfarer doesn’t compete, its skilled workers will take jobs at yards in Newport, R.I., or the Chesapeake Bay area, McMahon said.

“These are good jobs,” he said, with high salaries and such benefits as 401(k) retirement plans.

If the project is permitted, four existing buildings just northeast of the old steamboat wharf will be removed. They are in what is known locally as the bean yard.

Access to the new building would continue to be through the bean yard, but engineering plans show a grassy area along the waterfront following the removal of the old buildings.

Wayfarer owners Parker Laite Sr. and Jack Sanford have been contacted by people interested in buying the waterfront lots that would be created when the buildings are removed, McMahon said. The lots would each be eight-tenths of an acre and each would have 176 feet of shore frontage.

With the removal of the four buildings and the construction of a new one, Wayfarer would have a net loss of 4,423 square feet of building space.

“It’s more of an upgrade” than an expansion, McMahon said.

The project has had some opposition from neighbors on Arey Avenue, who hired Belfast attorney John Carver. Carver was unavailable for comment Thursday.

The Camden Planning Board will hold a public hearing on Wayfarer’s application at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3, in the Washington Street conference room.