Damariscottas back parking lot is filled with residents and business customers alike on Tuesday, June 4. Starting Sept. 3, the parking lot will undergo construction to install a 150,000 gallon storm water retention tank. (Johnathan Riley photo)
The municipal parking lot and waterfront park in Damariscotta is set to undergo the second and final phase of a $4 million flood resiliency renovation starting Sept. 3 and continuing into November.
The lot will not be accessible to general travel or through traffic starting in September. Additionally, during five weeks of the project, there will be limited parking options for patrons, which has drawn concerns from downtown property and business owners.
The renovation, which is being completed by Crooker Construction, of Topsham, includes installing a 150,000-gallon underground storm water retention tank, new storm drain basins, the renovation of four existing drainage pipes, elevating sections of the parking lot, and paving, according to Damariscotta Town Manager Andy Dorr.
“It’s very much a big undertaking,” Dorr said.
The project also is a long time coming, according to Dorr. In 2015 the back parking lot was identified by the town’s waterfront committee as a place needing flood resiliency work to protect it and the downtown from sea level rise and storm surge.
By 2020, funding for the renovation was secured, with $2.8 million, or 70% of the project cost, coming from grants from the United States Economic Development Administration. The remaining 30% or $1.2 million was raised almost entirely through private donations, according to Dorr.
The first phase of the parking lot improvement project, which was completed in July 2021, included adding new sewer lines and the construction of public restrooms.
“What we have now is a completed phase with the bathroom and sewer lines and all that associated work that’s already been done,” Dorr said. “We’re getting ready for the second phase of construction for this underground storage tank, regarding the parking lot, and putting it back together.”
In the coming months, the town will send out a request for proposals for the construction of a deployable flood wall, according to Dorr.
Four years ago, Dorr said that there were plans to put in a permanent flood wall, but the community conversation around the possible structure drew concerns of aesthetic, effectiveness, and necessity.
The flood resiliency plan for the parking lot is modeled after a 100-year storm scenario, which Dorr defined as infrastructure that can withstand the flooding that would accompany a 5- or 6-inch rain event within the span of a 12-hour tide change.
Additionally, the parking lot will be elevated in low spots along the waterfront by almost a foot.
“That itself will be a pretty decent gain with regards to river flooding in storm surge scenarios,” Dorr said.
The storm water tank will be built in place under the boat trailer parking in the western part of the parking lot and will extend to the front of the entrance of Taco Alley, past Y-Knott Gourmet Eatery on the Water.
“It’s a pretty sizable footprint,” Dorr said.
During construction, the parking lot will not be available as a thruway for general travel, according to Dorr. There will be a lane around construction for emergency vehicles, trash pickup, and deliveries that need access to downtown buildings.
The buildings along Taco Alley will not be accessible to larger vehicles during construction of the tank, which Dorr said the town is currently seeking a remedy.
Boaters needing access to the boat launch will be permitted to enter the west side of the parking lot, according to Dorr, as will residents who live in buildings along the back parking lot and park their vehicles there.
Dorr said there will be some parking east of the public bathrooms behind Artsake Framing Gallery and Renys Underground, but for planning purposes, it is assumed once the project starts most of the parking along Riverside Park and in the center of the lot will be unavailable.
There will still be two spots for boater parking along Misery Gulch next to Schooner Landing Restaurant and Marina during construction.
The work on the tank is expected to take place between weeks two and seven, according to Dorr. Weeks eight through 12 is when work on the storm drains and manhole covers will happen, he added. During that time there won’t be as much space being taken up by the tank installation.
The construction will begin Sept. 3 and run until the October when the construction company will break for Damariscotta Pumpkinfest and Regatta. The event draws an annual crowd of over 15,000. Once the festival is over, construction will resume with the intention to stop before the holiday season in November.
According to Dorr, from November until spring, the back parking lot will reopen to the general public.
“To most people it will look like a finished product in the sense of the surface,” Dorr said. “It’ll be easy to plow and navigate through.”
Weather permitting in spring, Dorr said the plan is to finish the final paving of the lot and to put in the new guardrail that will go run the length of the riverside park.
Community reactions to the project, according to Dorr, have fallen on both ends of the spectrum.
“Reactions ranged from thank you for the update, this has been in the works for a long time, we know this needs to be done, to concern this will put people out of business due to the decrease in available parking,” Dorr said.
On Tuesday, May 27 downtown business and property owners expressed concerns at a meeting held by the Damariscotta town office to inform back parking lot stakeholders about the project’s timeline.
Damariscotta parking lot improvement plans drawn up by the engineering company Wright-Pierce, of Portsmouth, N.H., shows where 150,000 gallon underground storm water retention will be constructed, beginning Sept. 3. Most of the construction is expected to happen between September and November, with the expectation to do the final touches in the spring, according to Damariscotta Town Manager Andy Dorr. (courtesy photo)
Dorr said the concerns expressed at the meeting included the economic impact of construction in fall months that are potentially more profitable than the spring months.
In light of the petition and comments from the community, Dorr said he has reached out to the United States Economic Development Administration and Crooker Construction to see if it’s possible to move the date of the parking lot construction to the spring.
According to plans of the project provided by Dorr, roughly 100 parking spots will be inaccessible during the construction of the tank.
In order to offset the limited parking from September until November, Dorr said the town is looking for about 100 parking spots around town, which he is working with private property owners to indentify, as well as underused lots that could be of service.
Aside from the economic impact due to lack of parking for customers to patronize Main Street businesses, there are other concerns about how delivery and garbage trucks will be able to access buildings they are picking up or dropping off from.
According to Dorr, as the town was detailing the request for proposals in fall 2023, municipal officers contacted business and property owners around the entrances to the back parking lot back to figure out the best time for construction to minimize financial impact on local businesses.
The approximately six business and building owners, according to Dorr, identified July and August as the months with the most significant financial impact.
“It’s tough because the best weather months are also the best construction months,” Dorr said.
The fall date selection for the start of the project ensured that the project would be nearly completed within the 60-month timeframe set forth by the United States Economic Development Administration for the town to complete the project and qualify for the grants.
The 60-month window ends in April 2025, according to Dorr, and waiting to start the multi-month project in the spring put the town outside of qualifying for the $2.8 million grant the town received from the Economic Development Administration, which is paying for 70% of the project.
However, after the May 28 meeting, Dorr received a petition signed by 37 Main Street business and property owners, as well as employees, on Friday, May 31 requesting the bulk of the construction be done during the late winter and spring to minimize impact. He’s asked those businesses affected by the construction to give the town data on the difference in revenues in the fall and spring to help strengthen the argument for the United States Economic Development Administration to allow the town to push the deadline.
“We need really strong data,” Dorr said.
Those impacted by the construction can contact Dorr directly by emailing him at adorr@damariscottame.com or calling the town office at 563-5168.
Dorr said an ad hoc work group of property owners, business owners, and residents is being utilized as a resource for the project and town officials to navigate problems that arise from the construction.
The renovations happening in the fall are a part of a much larger, longer conversation about preserving the downtown area as sea levels continue to rise, according to Dorr, and that maintaining dialogue with the community about taking those future steps is imperative.
“It’s important to realize that this is an incremental step along the much longer climate change and resiliency timeline,” Dorr said. “The conversation needs to continue with the community about resiliency and future impacts that are beyond what we’re modeling here.”
