A procession of locals stopped on the porch of Northern Bay Market in Penobscot on Monday to talk with owner Jamie MacNair, who sat in a rocking chair: a local newspaper editor, a selectman, workers on their lunch breaks.
“See, this is why we need a pub,” she said.
MacNair, who bought the market with her then-husband in 2017, has long wanted to open one in a separate building she plans to build behind it, and hopes to do so next summer.
But she can’t, unless residents vote to change local laws that make Penobscot a partially dry town, where liquor can be sold in containers — a change voters allowed just within the last decade, also for Northern Bay Market — but not served on-site.
Not everyone’s on board with the pub idea, questioning how such a change to longtime regulations would affect the rural Hancock County town’s character, at the tail end of a long, slow cultural change in Maine. For MacNair, it’s a way to provide a gathering space and bring in revenue to keep the mom-and-pop establishment going amid “astronomical” costs that challenge rural businesses.
Maine was among the states leading the charge against alcohol sales in the 19th century, restricting several times before federal prohibition in 1920; towns here kept local control over the rules after that.
Many, including Penobscot, first voted on specific liquor ordinances in a 1968 referendum. Some have remained dry because, in small communities with few local businesses, there’s simply been no reason to revisit the subject.
Numerous towns have loosened up laws in recent years, often holding votes at the requests of local businesses — though others have told the Bangor Daily News in the past that they’re happy to keep their restrictions, saying the bans suit the quiet natures of their towns.
Penobscot is one of the last incorporated towns in Hancock County with alcohol restrictions, according to state data.
MacNair pictures a cozy, English-inspired 20-by-20-foot pub with a courtyard and picnic tables. It would be open seasonally from Thursdays through Saturdays, run by her son and daughter-in-law, and may host small local gatherings like trivia events.
The store’s pizza- and lobster-centric menu would stay mostly the same, with the addition of a charcuterie board. The market would still close at 7, as would the pub.
She’s open to the idea of expanding if it’s successful, she said, but wants to keep things small and low-key — like the market itself.
“This is a mom and pop, and it’s one of the last strongholds on the peninsula,” she said. “I really want to keep that quiet, small-town feeling, so it’s authentic to Maine’s traditional general stores.”
But a group of residents are concerned about the vote, raising concerns that changing the laws means changing what makes Penobscot special.
In a letter to the editor of the online news site The Rising Tide, one said an initial vote — later rescheduled because of notice issues — on “this sensitive and divisive issue” had been rushed. The vote asks residents to remove another longtime restriction to “usher in a new modern age for our historic community,” causing her heart to ache for the protection of Penobscot’s traditional way of life.
Changing historic things that make the town unique “weakens the foundation of the community,” she said, and crosses a line that can’t be uncrossed.
“If we vote to usher in on-premise liquor service, will we be embracing with open arms a beacon to strangers far and wide to come drink their limit before driving down our quiet unpatrolled rural roads? If yes, then what will we next embrace? A Family Dollar? A cannabis dispensary?”
MacNair said the market’s record since getting its bottled liquor license can speak for itself, and highlighted that she grew up in town, chose to stay and is raising her own children there.
The 2019 vote was quieter, she said, but some people worried about the changes then, too. Most have been supportive of her current proposal, she said, and she invites anyone with concerns about losing the town’s integrity to talk with her.
She thinks those in opposition have mostly moved in from away and don’t understand the market’s history, its role as the center of town and her need to add revenue sources in order to stay in business.
“I just want people to know I’m here, and this is my community, and I would never do anything to hurt or change it in a negative way,” she said.
She views the vote as less of a change to Penobscot’s fabric and more of a way to encourage the community gathering that starts on the porch. It’s her favorite thing to do, MacNair said. She sits out there every morning she can.
“I think it’s a perfect time to expand and see how it goes. And, I would just really like the chance to see if there’s room for growth in that area here in Penobscot,” she said. “Which I think there is.”
A public hearing on allowing on-premise liquor sales will be held on Nov. 10, followed by a town vote on the 20th.
