By Dominik Lobkowicz
Bill McKenney, a senior engineering project manager for Hannaford Bros., gives a presentation on the planned expansion of the company’s Waldoboro store to the Waldoboro Planning Board April 8. (D. Lobkowicz photo) |
Representatives from Hannaford Bros. met with the Waldoboro Planning Board April 8 to discuss the company’s plans to expand its store at the corner of Routes 1 and 32.
Hannaford Bros. announced March 25 the company is hoping to expand its Waldoboro location and, according to a preliminary site plan, it would grow to 19,000 square
feet.
Bill McKenney, a senior engineering project manager for the company, said Hannaford has the neighboring property where the smoke shop is located under contract and
proposes to take the smoke shop down to make a right-in, right-out access off of Route 1.
McKenney said the access through that property from Route 1 is currently uncontrolled, and needs to be improved.
The company also plans to add additional parking in various areas near the smoke shop, along the northwest side of the expanded building, and in an area behind the
commercial building where CarQuest is located.
Board members expressed concern regarding the amount of impervious surfaces – such as the building’s roof and the parking lot – associated with the proposal,
particularly in light of the store’s proximity to the Medomak River.
The company is looking at ways to deal with storm water runoff from those areas, McKenney said. New landscaped areas near the proposed Route 1 entrance would be used
to naturally treat some storm water, but likely only from areas of higher elevation such as some of the new parking and the store’s roof.
According to the preliminary site plan, the amount of non-vegetated surfaces within the shoreland zone on the properties would decrease from 87.8 percent currently
to 81.7 percent.
The preliminary site plan also includes space in the parking lot for a small Clynk Bottle Recycling facility. According to McKenney, users would get an account with
the company and drop their bottles off in bags marked with stickers, the bottles are taken away, counted, and their account is credited.
Regarding the supermarket’s exterior design, McKenney said he wants to improve the architecture with something “more in keeping with Waldoboro.”
The project would also include new signage, which McKenney plans to share with the board at the parties’ next meeting. The sign on the building would be smaller than
the one on the company’s Damariscotta location, he said.
Hannaford’s plan is to pull together the necessary materials for an application and submit them to the planning board in the coming weeks, McKenney said. Once
permits are issued construction would start right away, hopefully within a few months from now, he said.
With the huge financial commitment for an expansion, McKenney said he feels the pressure to both get underway and finish the project as soon as possible, but the
work would likely not be finished until spring 2016.
Hannaford hopes to keep the store open during construction, but there will be a a number of department “resets” during the work and brochures will be provided to
help customers find products, McKenney said.
