Vine Street in Damariscotta on Tuesday, March 4. Physician Karl Stein presented a concept plan to the Damariscotta Planning Board on Monday, March 3, outlining plans to develop housing at the end of the street, totaling 20 units in two separate buildings. (Johnathan Riley photo)
During the same meeting in which it approved the rebuilding of a pier and heard concepts for a parking lot renovation, the Damariscotta Planning Board also heard a proposal for a housing development at the end of Vine Street.
Karl Stein, a physician interested in helping ease the area’s housing needs, submitted a concept plan to the board for the development of housing at 0 Vine St. The property borders the parking lot at Main Street Grocery and along Chapman Street. The property is owned by Jon and Stephanie Poland, according to Damariscotta tax records.
“It’s purely preliminary,” Stein said at the planning board’s Monday, March 3 meeting. “We’re trying to get an idea of what the town or city would like.”
The draft plan calls for the construction of two structures within the 1.96 acres, each with 10 rental units. Each structure would be 94 feet long and 56 feet wide, or 5,264 square feet, and wouldn’t exceed three stories, according to Stein.
Stein, who said he’s currently renting in Damariscotta and with family in Nobleboro, was attracted to the idea of helping develop housing in the area in order to live in the building and eventually have his family move in.
“We have a contract to build it, because we have a pretty good plan to try to add some housing to the area that could benefit, not only myself, but other people in the area,” Stein said. “I’m trying to solve the problem we have with housing.”
Stein said he’d benefit from the project as he could live there as well as provide housing for his In-laws.
Stein, ideally, would like for the units to be affordable housing, but with the difficulty in navigating funding source through the state and federal level, right now the application would be just for developing housing.
Abutters to the property and Vine Street residents expressed concern about the plan of adding housing at the end of the dead-end road.
“I appreciate the housing concerns, but in my opinion, not in this place,” said Martha Lynch, a resident of Vine Street.
Fellow Vine Street resident Keith Warren said that adding all that traffic to the narrow, historic road wouldn’t be feasible.
“Adding 20, 30, 40 vehicles, it’d be preposterous,” Warren said.
Several audience members mentioned the intersection of Church Street and Vine Street is difficult to navigate because of its proximity to Main Street.
“That intersection is very odd,” Warren said. “And even now it’s difficult to get in and out of (it).”
Karl Stein, a physician interested in helping ease the areas housing needs, speaks to the Damariscotta Planning Board on Monday, March 3 at the town office. Stein submitted a concept plan to the board for the development of housing at the end of Vine Street in Damariscotta. (Johnathan Riley photo)
Seeking alternatives to a Vine Street entrance, Stein contacted the owners of the Coastal Marketplace Plaza to see if they would be interested in allowing him use their property to access the potential housing units. The idea was rejected, he said.
“There are development rights there, but I don’t want to fight anybody about this,” he said. “That isn’t my goal. I can take my time and go elsewhere, but again, somebody else is going to come in and maybe a little more committed to it, and so I want to be a member of this community there, which is kind of what I think I have to offer.”
Stein said if he received enough pushback from members of the town, he would seek elsewhere to build housing.
“We’re trying to solve the problem … we want to make a good looking building, I want to live in it, but if nobody else likes it I guess we’ll go somewhere else,” he said.
Damariscotta Town Planner Michael Martone said that the conversation between residents of Vine Street and Stein were representative of the issues that the housing development discussion has faced in the past.
Damariscotta Planning Board member Anne Jackson said she liked the concept but its implementation was difficult to imagine.
“I like the building and the site plan, I can’t imagine how Vine Street is going to handle this traffic,” she said.
Jackson also suggested the town contact the property owners of Coastal Marketplace Plaza to ask about allowing entrance to the lot from the parking lot rather than through Vine Street.
Stein thanked the board and the residents for their input, Martone said he would be in touch with Stein to further discuss “housing generally in town.”
The board’s next scheduled meeting is for 7 p.m. on Monday, April 7 at the Damariscotta town office, at 21 School St.
