Business is booming at Canters Inn, a well-known watering hole in the Lewiston Orchards.

"Over the last three years, our sales have more than doubled," said manager Ron Carpenter.

Due to the increased traffic, the six Longfellow family members who own the bar want to add new disabled-accessible bathrooms, a storeroom and some new customer space. But the upgrades have thus far been stymied by city regulations that would also compel them to improve the frontage around the property with new sidewalks, curbs and gutters.

Carpenter said the mandatory improvements would simply add too much to the cost of a $176,000 job.

"We're only going to gain 12 new customer seats, and so there's no way we could justify to the shareholders that this renovation is going to pay for itself in a timely fashion," he said.

There may be some relief in the coming months for the inn and a handful of other Lewiston businesses in a similar position, however. Earlier this week, Mayor Pro Tem Brad Cannon told a city council work session that he wants the city to explore options to ease the regulations on major remodels that trigger mandatory frontage improvements.

Under existing city ordinances, frontage improvements are required when the value of the remodel exceeds 50 percent of the assessed value of the building. If the structure was built before 1950, improvements are required if the remodel value exceeds 100 percent of the building value.

But the value of the property on which any given building sits is not figured into the equation, making it far more likely that remodeling projects will exceed those thresholds. Changing that formula to include the entire value of the property is one avenue the city may consider.

The city's development engineer, Shawn Stubbers, said businesses can be exempted from the requirement if they qualify to pay a fee in lieu of making the improvements. In the case of Canters Inn, he said the owners could likely pay significantly less than the approximate $20,000 cost of their sidewalks if they participate in that program.

But there are other potential inequities in the ordinances, according to City Manager Jim Bennett. For example, older businesses built after 1950 would reach the 50 percent level much easier than a newer building with a higher assessed value. And some businesses, like Canters Inn, sit on large parcels with multiple street frontages that might all require expensive curbs, gutters and sidewalks.

Another quirk of the code is that businesses in large complexes like the Lewiston Center Mall will never be required to do site improvements because the value of their remodels is measured against the value of the entire complex, Bennett said. For example, Macy's has remodeled several times over the years, but has never been required to make frontage improvements.

Other challenges in the code include the fact that some buildings like churches and government offices do not have a county-assessed building value, Stubbers said. And there is not always good information available about when a building was constructed so the city can fairly apply the 1950 rule.

Stubbers said other questions the city needs to consider are whether to separate the value of building repairs from building improvements, and exactly how much improvement or repair to existing sidewalks should be required.

Another preliminary option is making the required improvements a percentage of the building permit value. And City Planner Joel Plaskon suggested exempting projects that help a business comply with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, or life-safety improvements.

Stubbers said the Canters example is fairly unusual because it sits on such a large piece of property, but Cannon said there are a few other businesses that haven't been able to remodel because of the sidewalk requirements.

Whatever the council does, if anything, Bennett said it needs to be balanced with the city's desire to promote the construction of curbs, gutters and sidewalks for pedestrian safety and stormwater management. It is simply too expensive for Lewiston to tackle the large stretches of missing sidewalk that exist in the city, especially in the Lewiston Orchards, he said.

Carpenter said he is mildly encouraged that the city is taking a look at helping businesses facing his predicament.

"We've been here since 1956, and honestly, we just want to really better ourselves for our customers," he said.

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Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2266.