A Gorham innkeeper, who closed his high-end dining facility Friday, is still upset about demands fire inspectors are requiring of his business, but a meeting Tuesday with the fire chief may have tempered some of the heat.
At issue is a July inspection of Matt Mattingly’s PineCrest Inn, 91 South St., by town and state fire officials. It was inspected under codes for a hotel, and the inspectors’ report cited violations.
Mattingly has called the inspection report that the town released to the public unfair and damaging.
“This whole process has irreparably damaged reputation of this business,” Mattingly said Tuesday morning. “It’s slanderous.”
The PineCrest property was approved as a bed-and-breakfast in 1993, and Mattingly and his wife, Amy, took over in 2005. Mattingly’s dining facility and inn was inspected in July by fire officials as a hotel, based on the occupancy number fire officials cited, instead of a bed-and-breakfast.
Mattingly now has reduced the occupancy number to 16 and said inspectors are viewing his operation as a bed-and-breakfast. He said he’s licensed by the state for rooming and lodging.
Mattingly met Tuesday at the inn with Fire Chief Robert Lefebvre and Zoning Administrator David Galbraith.
“There’s nothing that is an immediate threat to life and safety,” Lefebvre said Wednesday about PineCrest.
Lefebvre said the goal is to develop a plan of corrections.
Following a letter Friday from the town’s fire inspector, Charles Jarrett, Mattingly voluntarily shut down his small, upscale restaurant that he calls a private dining club with 800 memberships.
“We canceled all reservations for the weekend,” he said Tuesday.
Friday’s letter from the town outlined violations and correction dates. Mattingly said structural changes to meet required corrections could have run up to $20,000.
Jesse Poirier, the chef at 91 South, said he began as the chef there about a month ago. Poirier described the facility as definitely fine dining and said the closing is a hit to the dining scene in Gorham.
“The restaurant was an intimate place where you could connect with patrons,” Poirier said.
Although the restaurant is closed, Mattingly said he is allowed to use the dining area to serve bed-and-breakfast guests. The dining area seats 12 people at five tables and has four chairs at a bar.
Mattingly said he is exploring the feasibility of relocating his dining facility to Buxton or Westbrook.
The town said it has been inspecting all businesses that have applied for victual licenses or renewals.
“We provided the fire department with a list of reasonable and readily achievable modifications we could make,” Mattingly posted Friday on Facebook. “The response we received today was beyond any of our most dire expectations.”
In a letter dated Oct. 29 and addressed to Mattingly, Lefebvre wrote, “We are not asking you to do anything that hasn’t been required of every other person in the community that is running a restaurant.”
Mattingly now is striving to keep his bed-and-breakfast open.
Mattingly closed two, third-floor bedrooms that he wants designated for family use. But the fire inspector’s report last week says, “The third floor rooms are not accessible from the current second-floor innkeepers area and unless structural changes are made, the primary means of escape from these spaces is through the rooming and lodging and not through the innkeepers area. The space shall not be used until made contiguous with the existing innkeepers area.”
Citing the existing floor plan in the 1825 house, Mattingly said in order to use the two rooms for his family, options would include building a third-floor addition above the innkeepers apartment or eliminating a second-floor room for the bed-and- breakfast to comply.
Mattingly also said the latest list of corrections calls for modifications of doors to make them fire-rated by Jan. 1, 2017. Mattingly is now getting quotes to make doors compliant and said the item could cost $20,000.
The sprinkler system that would have had to be upgraded, if the facility were a hotel with a restaurant, is now sufficient under bed-and-breakfast rules.
“It appears under rooming and lodging they will allow the existing system to stand without modifications,” Mattingly said.
Last month, Mattingly, upset over the initial inspectors’ report, blasted the town on Facebook. Town Manager David Cole sent a letter to town councilors on Oct. 29 about some of Mattingly’s Facebook postings.
Town Council Chairman Michael Phinney said Wednesday the Town Council doesn’t play into the situation.
“This is a safety and compliance issue with both the fire department, the state’s Fire Marshal’s Office and the business owner,” Phinney said.
Mattingly in the past has fought the town over other issues, including a parking plan for his inn and a proposed town special amusement ordinance. Mattingly’s issues with the town appear to be lingering and the Facebook posting included personal comments about Cole.
But, Mattingly and Lefebvre both said their meeting Tuesday at PineCrest was amicable. Lefebvre said some issues were clarified Tuesday.
“We were cordial, friendly, direct and honest,” Mattingly said.
“We had a good meeting,” agreed Lefebvre.
Lefebvre said the inn is working on providing a timetable for corrections.
Mattingly plans an open house from 5-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18, with the whole town invited to view his inn.
“We want to thank everyone in the community who have been so supportive of us,” Mattingly said.
The small restaurant at PineCrest Inn, at 91 South St. in Gorham, is now closed as owner Matt Mattingly deals with code issues. Staff photo by Robert Lowell Send questions/comments to the editors.
