By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — Seating capacity determinations is something that many local establishments are lacking in Naples.

A resident brought up his concerns about establishments not displaying occupancy limits, and there being no one to enforce this.

“I didn’t know that our restaurants didn’t have seating capacities listed,” resident Bob Nyberg said.

He said that there are good reasons that seating capacities are required and should be followed by establishments. 

“There are accidents all the time and if you are over capacity, people can die,” he said.

Nyberg was speaking during the public participation period of the Naples Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday.

Chairman Jim Grattelo agreed it was something that needs to be addressed. He said that businesses have a seating limit that is based on the septic system; and that, too, is something the town should keep an eye on.

“Any business that holds a large crowd, any special event that comes to town — it is our job to make sure it is safe. It is also our job to make sure the septic is safe and sewage isn’t going into the water,” Grattelo said.

When Nyberg was speaking, he mentioned that a fire inspector should be working with businesses to make sure the seating capacities are established.

Naples Town Manager John Hawley said, “We don’t have a fire inspector, it falls under the fire marshal’s jurisdiction.”

Unfortunately, the State of Maine Fire Marshal’s office is spread a little thin.

Nyberg continued speaking.

“In Portland, they are very serious about occupancy limits,” he said.

“Everyone says it won’t happen in our town. Then, it does. The one time you have a problem, you cannot recover if people die,” he said.

Nyberg referred to the Station nightclub fire, which happened in 2003 in Rhode Island. One hundred people died and twice as many were injured while trying to escape from a fire, which broke out during the concert. The number of people exceeded the seating capacity by about 50.

“You need the seating capacities displayed in town,” Nyberg said.

Grattelo said that seating capacities limits were something the town worked on prior to the Maine Blues Festival this year.

“We had the fire marshal in town before the Bluesfest. He visited three or four places. He believes that there is a lot of work to be done,” Grattelo said.

“We do have issues. There are certain weekends that there are more people in the establishments than allowed,” he said.

“The more important issue, we have licenses for restaurants based on septic systems. We know there are more seats than allowed for the septic systems. That has to be addressed. We cannot have a restaurant to have more seats than their septic system will hold,” Grattelo said.

The chairman continued that local businesses wanting to increase seating capacity have the option to either expand their existing septic systems or provide porta potties to customers.

“You are right, it hasn’t been addressed for years,” Grattelo said to Nyberg.

“We brought the fire marshal in. He addressed several businesses. He will be coming back,” he said.

Grattelo suggested tying seating capacity and septic system conditions to an annual business license.

“We have to create a business license. I don’t care if it’s free or $5,” he said.

The proposed business license idea would allow the town and the business owners to have a checklist of these important items, he said.