Town postpones hearing on alleged permit issues at Blaze
After Blue Hill officials proposed a plan to settle alleged violations, restaurant owner pushed back on social media
Blaze Brewing Co. in downtown Blue Hill. File photo.
Aug. 12, 2026
ByJessi Hardy and John Boit
BLUE HILL – The Blue Hill Select Board has postponed a public hearing that had been scheduled for Aug 10 regarding an administrative consent agreement – basically a proposal to settle alleged code and permitting violations – with Blaze restaurant.
The proposed agreement that had been prepared by the town addressed land-use and permitting violations at the restaurant located at 66 Main Street, including some of its structures that had been built and installed without permits between 2021–2025, the town said.
The document also noted that the town renewed Blaze’s liquor license last year, with the understanding that the restaurant would bring its building into compliance by March 31 of this year.
Officials say the property is in violation of town ordinances regarding its pizza oven, performance stage, and other issues. The proposed agreement the town sought to sign with Blaze would have also required the business to provide an inventory of all structures that had been constructed and improved.
But a day before the hearing, on Aug. 9, Blaze owner Matthew Haskell pushed back on the agreement in a lengthy Facebook post, calling for supporters to attend the hearing.
“The enforcement, the consistency of enforcement, and the messages we've received from the CEO [code enforcement officer] and his office and the people calling the shots behind the scenes has been all over the place to say the least,” Haskell wrote.
Haskell also claimed the issues with alleged violations only started after noise complaints from neighbors in 2025.
“They're a very small group, but they've been very loud in their opposition to the cultural happenings, the live music, and the beer garden itself.” Haskell said.
The proposed administrative agreement calls for Haskell to submit a plan by Sept. 8 that would bring the restaurant into compliance. That plan must include “at minimum,” according to the agreement, the following actions:
Blaze agrees to file complete “after-the-fact” notices and permit applications for all structures built or installed since 2021.
If the restaurant's pizza oven, outdoor bar, stage, or smoker, are not in compliance with local ordinances, then Blaze must provide a detailed proposal “for the removal or relocation of these structures and improvements.”
Blaze must pay attorney’s fees incurred by the town, as well as a minimum penalty of $5,000 for code violations, and not more than $15,000.
Haskell alleged that the entire issue is designed to “run him out of town.”
“As of now there are two for sure, maybe three board members, from what we can tell, who want to fine us big, shut down the beer garden, and basically run us out of town,” Haskell wrote. “We are not at all overreacting, this is truly what this small group of people wants, and we really have no idea why. This started with a stage and they decided to grow it into something much much more. A mountain out of a mole hill. The power struggle is real, very evident, and completely taking over this situation.”
Haskell also said that if the issue isn’t resolved the restaurant may leave town.
“We want to be in downtown Blue Hill, we want to be there for a very very long time, but if this treatment persists and this disagreement after over 5 years of silence isnt [sic] amicably resolved we may just infact [sic] decide to move out of downtown Blue Hill which would be a true shame,” Haskell wrote.
After the hearing was postponed, Haskell wrote on Facebook that “we are looking forward to working out an amicable solution for everyone…Can't even express how much we thank everyone who supports Blaze and specifically in our mission in our home of downtown Blue Hill.”
The town has not yet set a new date for the hearing.
