Blaze Blue Hill is being sued by the town for the restaurant’s alleged land-use violations and unpermitted structures, including a stage that’s drawn the ire of neighbors because of loud concerts.
The town of Blue Hill filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Ellsworth District Court against Pub Ciao LLC, doing business as Blaze Blue Hill, and John B. Warren and Kathryn N. Warren Trust, which owns the property at 66 Main St. Blaze Blue Hill is owned and operated by Matthew Haskell.
The lawsuit is the latest legal action involving businesses owned by Haskell, who as of June had more than half a million dollars in business and personal debts, which he attributed to a 2023 fire at a former Camden Blaze location. His restaurant empire has seen multiple closures in the last couple years, as well as the recent $1 million purchase of a Lincolnville winery.
The town wants a judge to order Blaze to remove the unpermitted structures and issue unspecified fines, according to the lawsuit. Blue Hill used satellite images, pictures, permitting records and statements by Blaze in compiling the lawsuit, it said.
“I prefer not to comment on pending litigation, other than to say I disagree with the allegations in the complaint,” Haskell said.
Blue Hill town officials were not immediately available for comment. Contact information for the Warren Trust could not be found.
Blue Hill’s Select Board voted to sue the restaurant at an Aug. 31 meeting. That decision came about three weeks after the town canceled a hearing about a settlement agreement because the two sides weren’t in agreement.
The unpermitted structures first started appearing in November 2021 when an outdoor kitchen and bar were built, the lawsuit said. In the following years a commercial meat smoker and an outdoor stage with a roof and three walls were added.
Neighbors complained about the noise from the summer concerts, saying they were too loud and went too late. Blue Hill found in July 2025 that the restaurant did not get the required special amusement permit.
During an October 2025 Select Board meeting, a town employee said he couldn’t find records of building permits for the stage and other recent construction. At the time Haskell said he knew the outdoor stage was built without permits.
Haskell was supposed to obtain the required permits and comply with town ordinances by March 31, which did not happen, according to the lawsuit. He submitted incomplete permit applications.
The structures were still on the property when a Blue Hill code enforcement officer checked on Sept. 16, according to the lawsuit.
In addition to being unpermitted, the outdoor kitchen is built within 25 feet of the high water line of Mill Stream, which violates shoreland zoning, the lawsuit said. The stage, kitchen, smoker, bar and a storage building on one of the restaurant’s lots takes up more than 90% of the space. Zoning laws say that no more than 20% of the lot can be non-vegetated, the lawsuit said.
The unpermitted structures are in a FEMA-designated flood hazard area but the company did not get the required permit before building, according to the lawsuit.
Fines for the alleged violations range from $100 to $5,000 per day, per violation, the lawsuit said. A fine of $15,000 plus $4,200 of the town’s legal fees had accrued by July 8, according to a letter from Blue Hill to Haskell and the property owner.