JONESPORT — The Board of Selectmen calendared a special town meeting for voters to consider proposed changes to the town’s Shoreland Zoning and Land Use ordinances to give Kingfish more time and latitude for its proposed $100 million land-based aquaculture plant.
The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 5, at Jonesport Elementary School.
The meeting follows a July 8 Planning Board hearing where the public weighed in on proposed changes, which includes giving Kingfish Maine 30 months to show a “substantial start” on construction of its 22-acre plant.
Town permits now allow a holder only 24 months to demonstrate a “substantial start.”
The proposed changes also loosen language around what constitutes a “substantial start” in the Kingfish permits. The Planning Board has suggested that, given the scope of the project, the definition of “substantial start” be amended — as it applies to Kingfish only — to mean “tangible evidence of physical work on the site” and “a clear progression toward fulfilling contractual and regulatory obligations.”
A “substantial start” currently means 30 percent of the project should be completed within the permit period.
Voters will also be asked to decide whether to allow the Planning Board to make changes to existing permits without full permit review.
In 2021, The Kingfish Co. bought 9 Dun Garvin Road — about 95 acres of oceanfront property on Chandler Bay in Jonesport — and applied to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to build an aquaculture facility that would eventually produce 8,500 metric tons of yellowtail kingfish a year and provide between 70 and 100 jobs.
The project has since weathered multiple appeals from opponents concerned about its environmental impact and there has been no construction at the site to date.
Kingfish Maine was finally cleared to proceed in April 2025, when the Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a lower court ruling that upheld a Department of Environmental Protection permit for the project.
Maine DEP must weigh in on the town’s proposed changes before they can be incorporated into the ordinances.
In other business, selectmen reviewed the upcoming launch of a new town website that has been under development for the last year.
“We’re the only Jonesport in the country,” said Harry Fish, chair of the board.
Unlike the current town website, which functions as an official portal for town government, Jonesport America will promote town events, businesses and history. It will also offer local news items.
And, in executive session, the selectmen interviewed two candidates for animal control officer and a Board of Appeals alternate.
