Wedding Cake House owners face delays: Town needs more time to review inn and venue plan

KENNEBUNK, Maine — A proposed contract zone to enable the Wedding Cake House to become an inn and events venue will not be on the local ballot during the Maine presidential primary in March.

After a public hearing and discussion on Jan. 9, members of the Kennebunk Select Board decided they needed more time to organize their concerns with the contract zone application before sending it back to the town’s Planning Board to be addressed.

“A contract zone has a pretty heavy burden before I get to ‘yes’ on it,” said Select Board Chair Shiloh Schulte. “I don’t see this one as there yet.”

Between now and the Select Board’s next meeting on Jan. 23, members will summarize their concerns and submit them to Schulte and Town Manager Heather Balser, so that a solid list of “bullet points” can be discussed and then sent to the Planning Board for further review and action.

Town Engineer Chris Osterrieder told the board that a decision to send the application back to the Planning Board would mean that the proposal would not appear on the local ballot during the presidential primary to be held on March 5.

“March is off the table,” Osterrieder said, referring to deadlines in place. “Tonight was the one-shot chance for March.”

For the applicants, Hunt and Katie Edwards, the annual town meeting in June would be their next opportunity, should the Select Board agree to advance their proposed contract zone and place it in voters’ hands.

If voters approve the contract zone, the couple would still need to put their plans for an inn and venue through the town’s site plan review process.

The couple said they are seeking to establish an inn and venue to create a revenue stream to help them finish their renovation of the Wedding Cake House – specifically, the structure’s distinct trim and columns. To date, the couple already has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to restore the home.

Seacoast Pizza named best pizza: Here's how owner keeps customers coming back

Wedding Cake House inn plan divides neighbors

During the public hearing on Jan. 9, residents spoke in favor and in opposition to the proposed contract zone.

Jamie Barth, for example, praised Hunt and Katie Edwards as “fantastic stewards” of the Wedding Cake House, saying the historic home looks the best it has in years.

“It should be up to the community to vote on this,” she said.

Gregg DiNino, however, spoke as a former member of the town’s Planning Board, Historic Preservation Commission, and Zoning Board and said he has “serious concerns” with the proposal. He said the argument that a contract zone is needed to preserve the home “rings hollow.”

“Overall, I think this is opening a door we’ll never be able to close,” DiNino said. “This is not the only historic property on Summer Street. I believe this is going to open the floodgates for some really detrimental uses in the future.”

Members of the Select Board also expressed concerns about the application.

Select Board member Bill Ward said the potential impacts of an inn and venue on traffic, noise and infrastructure concerned him. Ward said he would prefer bands to perform inside during events at a venue, as opposed to outside, as proposed to be allowed. Ward also said he would like to see attendance at events to be lower than the cap of 150 people currently being proposed.

“I’ve been torn on this one,” Ward said.

Select Board member Kortney Nedeau said she did not feel the application, as presented, included enough information to pass on to voters.

Board member Leslie Trentalange said she empathizes with the Wedding Cake House’s neighbors, who repeatedly have expressed misgivings about the impact they feel an inn and venue would have on traffic, the character of their neighborhood, and their peace and quiet.

“I think the neighbors should be listened to,” Trentalange said.

Trentalange also rejected what she said feels like an “ongoing PR campaign” claiming that the town needs to support the proposed contract zone “or else that will be the end of the Wedding Cake House.”

“That sounds more like an attempt to hold the town hostage for one property’s maintenance, when there are many other historic properties in town that also require maintenance,” she said. “If this property does not become a wedding venue, I don’t see that stopping people from coming to Kennebunk.”

Museum in the making: How Sanford is preserving the Sweat-Morin Homestead

Wedding Cake project to be sent back to Planning Board

The town’s Planning Board discussed the proposed contract zone on numerous occasions throughout 2023 and held two public hearings on the matter. In November, by a vote of 4 to 1, the board agreed to forward the proposal to the Select Board for its consideration.

The board also agreed to forward the minority opinion of its lone dissenting member, Richard Smith, who echoed neighbors’ concerns about the proposed project’s impact on noise, traffic and other aspects in the Wedding Cake House’s neighborhood.

During the past five years, the Edwardses have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars renovating their beloved home, which is often said to be the most photographed residence in Maine. They have renovated parts of the home and adjacent carriage house, completing numerous tasks, and are now making the home available for days-long stays to the public.

The home is formally known as the George W. Bourne House and gets its nickname from its wedding cake-like appearance.

According to local legend, Bourne, a sea captain and shipbuilder, had the house built in 1825 to “atone for having not taken his bride, Jane, on a proper honeymoon.”

The home has been restored on several occasions, most recently in 1984. James Hunt Barker – Hunt Edwards’ uncle – bought the house in 1998. Hunt Edwards began renovating it in 2019.

Woodstone at York Village: Plan to scrap 55-plus homes finds support, opposition

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Wedding Cake House inn proposal faces delays in Kennebunk