BELFAST — After laying an egg in his attempt to revive Belfast’s poultry industry, plucky Randy Pitre is back with plans for a retail chicken business.

Old MacDonald Farms Inc. is set to open Friday in the downtown mall on High Street, selling whole, processed, uncooked chickens. Except for a small glitch in a permit for the store’s sign, Pitre seems to have everything in order with the city and with state and federal agencies, a sharp contrast to the regulatory wrangling that spoiled his processing plans.

Pitre, of Prince Edward Island, said Wednesday he would sell U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected chickens for about half the price of those in grocery stores. “How we can do that is a secret, but all the chickens are produced in the states and are of Grade-A quality,” he said. “This retail division is just the first of several outlets we plan and is laying the groundwork for bigger projects, including processing.”

Pitre has a USDA inspection sticker on display in the store and was issued the necessary state permit from the Maine Department of Agriculture Dec. 29.

From Belfast’s point of view, Code Enforcement Officer Robert Temple said Wednesday, Pitre did run afoul of the city’s sign ordinance by erecting the store’s sign without a permit, a mistake that will cost Pitre a $300 after-the-fact fee, in addition to the $15 sign permit. “It’s certainly not an insurmountable problem,” Temple said. “He pays the fee and he’s in business. Otherwise, he’s in a commercial zone, he got his plumbing permit, everything else seems in order.”

Pitre first came to Belfast in early 1991 with plans to reopen the vacant Penobscot Poultry plant and was greeted with cheers by many, hungry for the 300 jobs he promised. Pitre scrapped his plans that summer, saying the cost of renovating the old plant was prohibitive.

He returned late last summer for a second try at reopening the plant, but met a significantly cooler reception from city officials and residents, stung by dashed hopes and unpaid bills from his first visit.

Pitre settled his bills with the city and an unpaid employee, but ran into serious trouble with the Belfast Planning Board by failing to provide information the board required on such issues as waste disposal, parking and shoreland zoning.

The board denied Pitre’s application in November. Pitre filed an appeal with the Zoning Board of Appeals, but withdrew it the day before the hearing last month, saying he was taking his processing plans elsewhere.

Pitre said Wednesday he still was determined to re-establish the region’s once-mighty poultry-processing industry. “We’re looking at several places, near Belfast and towards Bangor,” he said. “I can’t reveal where yet, but processing will return to this area.”