Co-owner Chun Lin stands Tuesday in the kitchen of his Lucky Tree Buffet restaurant in Lewiston, which is opening Friday. His wife, Li Ying Lu, stands behind him at the grill. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
This week the Buzz is building and buffeting.
First: A $7 million entree.
The Auburn Planning Board has approved a $7 million, 4.990-megawatt solar array proposed for inactive apple orchard land at 1040 Perkins Ridge Road.
An aerial map of the 1040 Perkins Ridge Road solar project by Borrego Solar Systems Inc., submitted with its application to the Auburn Planning Board.
The project by 978 Solar Development, a subsidiary of Borrego Solar Systems Inc., would sit on 18.9 acres leased from Apple Ridge Farms, according to the application, which also lists a completion date of summer/fall 2021.
The project would involve 14,820 modular solar panels on 618 racks with materials anticipated to last up to 40 years.
Megan Norwood, Auburn’s city planner II, said it was approved last week with conditions such as a 20-foot gravel road around the project and not using pesticides.
Borrego has installed projects totaling more than 600 megawatts in the past 40 years, according to the application, making it “the largest private commercial solar company in the U.S., with the largest market share in Massachusetts, New York and California.”
It’s unclear what, if any, other approvals the Auburn solar array needs to be shovel-ready. A spokeswoman for the Maine Public Utilities Commission said it’s a net energy building project and doesn’t require PUC approval but does require a contract with the local electric utility.
Borrego didn’t respond Tuesday to requests for additional details.
Now, building in Lewiston
On Monday, the Lewiston Planning Board unanimously approved a new 13,650-square-foot, $1.25 million project for Butler Bros. at 2001 Lisbon St., according to City Planner Doug Greene.
The company has a 53,898-square-foot warehouse there and needs the extra space for additional storage, according to its application.
The project also needs a Maine Department of Environmental Protection permit.
New eats
After months of teases and coming-soons on social media, the new Lucky Tree Buffet opens in Lewiston on Friday.
Manager and co-owner Steven Le said the new restaurant is going into the former, short-lived Dave’s American Buffet space in the Lewiston Mall and has hired staff from the recently shuttered Tin Tin Buffet in Auburn.
In addition to most of the Tin Tin offerings, Lucky Tree will also have more vegetarian and seafood dishes, Le said.
Diners will be served cafeteria-style, walking along the buffet while staff plate the food on the other side. Due to precautions around COVID-19, capacity will be limited to 50 people, for now.
“If this ever goes away, we’re looking at 130,” he said.
Plans have been in place for the new Asian restaurant for the past year, Le said. “The pandemic just slowed things down a bit.”
Le said he recently moved from Massachusetts, where he worked in restaurants. He’s hired eight people so far.
“Auburn-Lewiston just looked like a great area to open a buffet,” he said. The location in particular, near the jump park, in a mall, seemed family-friendly.
Lucky Tree Buffet will be open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week with takeout available during the day and up to 10:30 p.m. The menu and prices were still being finalized Tuesday.
Quick hits about business comings, goings and happenings. Have a Buzzable tip? Contact staff writer Kathryn Skelton at 689-2844 or kskelton@sunjournal.com.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
