Construction fences were placed around the Springs General Store last week, and Daniel Bennett, co-owner of Springs General Real Estate, confirmed in a phone call that he had applied for a building permit and was hopeful work at the community staple could begin soon. He has sought approval for about four years to renovate the structure, discontinue its kayak rental business, and introduce a retail wine shed.
Even the best-case estimate on the construction timeline, however, means the store, which has been shuttered for the last three years, won’t be open until the summer of 2027. Worst case scenario puts the opening into July 2028.
Mr. Bennett, while happy progress is being made, is keeping his emotions in check. “I’ve had the you’re-there moment with this project six times since we began. I won’t be there now until I’m sitting in the completed store by the fireplace,” he said.
Receiving a building permit is part of the timeline. Mr. Bennett applied for it on Oct. 16. Richard Normoyle, the town’s principal building inspector, first needs paperwork from two town agencies: Approval from the fire marshal that work can begin, and a letter from the zoning board of appeals saying the building permit can be released.
“We’re just waiting on those final submittals,” Mr. Normoyle said. “I would hope we could issue the permit by the end of the year.”
The general store, a main component of the Springs Historic District, closed after the summer of 2022. Since then, Mr. Bennett and his team have gained approvals from the zoning board for a natural resources special permit (9/24/24), the planning board for site plan approval (1/24/25), and another approval from the architectural review board (4/25).
There will be big changes to the building, which is highly visible from Old Stone Highway and School Street. Perhaps the biggest will be the aforementioned wine shop just off the parking area, housed in a 175-square-foot repurposed shed. Mr. Bennett had to abandon the use of the longstanding kayak rental business to allow for the second retail store.
The main building will be lifted so a new foundation can be installed, and a back deck will be reconstructed. A 250-square-foot handicapped-accessible ramp will be built at the entrance. The asphalt-shingled roof will be replaced with eastern white cedar shingles, and a storage garage behind the main building will receive a new metal roof.
Doors, window sashes, and the front porch columns (which will be replaced to match those in historical photographs) will be painted blue, and all the windows will be replaced. Upstairs, three apartments, which will be used for staff housing, will be renovated.
The happenstance, but charming, parking lot will be lined with 12 parking spaces and one Americans With Disabilities Act-compliant spot. Its surface, still to be determined, will be permeable. A new 60-foot-long split-rail fence along Old Stone Highway will separate the entrance and exit points.
“We all love the Wild West of that situation,” Mr. Bennett said. “On the Fourth of July everything will go out the window anyway, but we’re going to do our best to follow the guidelines that the town gave us for parking.”
Other existing structures, including an ice machine, two fences, a playhouse, boat racks, a walk-in cooler, a generator, and a shed, are slated for removal.
Over a quarter-acre of lawn will be transformed with native plantings. Three picnic tables will remain.
“We’re legally allowed to have 16 seats,” Mr. Bennett said. “We’ll have 12 outside at the three picnic tables, and four inside.”
What happens on the parcel, which is only 100 feet from Pussy’s Pond, with 200 linear feet of frontage on Accabonac Harbor, impacts those water bodies. Long ago the lot was placed in the town’s Harbor Protection Overlay District. The store-to-be has received a town grant to install a low-nitrogen system, which Mr. Bennett said will likely be the first construction — along with the raising of the main building — that people will see.
Early on, the application faced controversy over its request for a liquor license that included on-site consumption of alcohol. That request was removed; however, the planning board approval seemed to leave open the possibility of a different liquor license in the future.
“No on-site consumption of wine is permitted on the site in accordance with the conditions issued by the [State Liquor Authority] permit,” reads the approval. “Applicant shall submit a new site plan application to the planning board if changes to the S.L.A. permit or a new S.L.A. permit regarding on-site consumption are sought in the future.”
“If people saw what on-site consumption of wine by the bottle looked like, I don’t think anyone would have had a problem with it ever,” said Mr. Bennett. “We wanted patrons to enjoy food with a glass of wine and watch the sunset over the harbor. That’s all it was ever about. It was not about creating another Surf Lodge.”
