Newcastle voters approved a contract zone for an apartment building, but rejected a donation from a downtown developer at a Dec. 9 special town meeting.
The community meeting room at the River Road fire station was full, with about 59 voters on hand for the meeting.
The Newcastle Center apartment building will be able to continue to operate as it has for several years after a 40-19 vote to approve a consent agreement and contract zone for the 7-11 Hall St. property.
Juloania Inc., which owns and operates the property, will pay a $12,000 fine per the terms of the agreement. The corporation will have to correct a series of fire- and plumbing-code violations within a year.
The contract zone adjusts Newcastle regulations to match the present use of the property. According to the town, the number of apartments at Newcastle Center violated regulations, and Juloania Inc. never obtained the necessary permits for the apartments.
The voters rejected a donation of boat slips, parking spaces and a public-access easement from a local developer, 33-24. The voters also rejected an accompanying article to raise $20,000 to develop a public-access plan for the easement.
The Standard of Newcastle LLC owns the 75 Main St. property in question. The property contains a condominium project, formerly known as the Newcastle Harbor House; and a 24-slip marina on the Damariscotta River.
The voters approved the sale of a 1.3-acre parcel of land to Central Maine Power Company “to enable the construction of a grid-reliability project” by a vote of 50-6.
