A plan to remodel the historic Franciscan Guest House in Kennebunk was overturned by the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals last week.

In July 2024, the Kennebunk Site Plan Review Board accepted a proposal to renovate the guest house at the monastery on Beach Avenue. The building was slated to become the Canticle Hotel in a major overhaul.

Now, the plan could be in jeopardy.

Last month, Beach Avenue resident David Plass submitted an appeal seeking to overturn the Site Plan Review Board’s decision, stating that the property contains “nonconforming structures” and that operating the Franciscan Guest House as a hotel violates the town’s zoning ordinance, even before renovations.

At the Sept. 30 meeting, the Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously agreed.

Board Chair Stephen Sayers said there is no evidence the property was used as a hotel or as a restaurant when the town enacted its ordinance for that zoned part of Kennebunk in 1963. “In fact, it’s uncontroverted,” he said.

“To use the property as a hotel or a restaurant would be prohibited under the 1963 ordinance and under the current ordinance,” Sayers said.

But attorney William Kennedy, who represents Plass, said that Plass never argued the property couldn’t continue to operate as a hotel.

“We absolutely think that it can continue on,” Kennedy said.

If the Franciscan Guest House would like to appeal the decision made by the board, it has 45 days to do so. Attorney Gregory Braun, representing the Society of Franciscan Fathers of Greene, Maine, which owns the property, said he would like to preserve rights of appeal on behalf of the group.

The Society of Franciscan Fathers proposed renovations for both the interior and exterior of the property in 2024, with plans to modernize facilities, update the facade, expand parking, upgrade utilities and move guest rooms.

The property would then be renamed the Canticle Hotel.

Currently, the Franciscan Guest House is made up of three structures: the main guest house, the White House and the Tudor House.

If renovation plans move forward, the White House and its garage would be demolished. Its eight guest rooms would be transferred to the main guest house, as would 10 of the current Tudor House guest rooms.

The Tudor House would be renovated to include 12 rooms, and a new entry for the Canticle Hotel would be built, with a lobby and a restaurant.