An eyesore in North Whitefield will be removed now that the planning board has approved nonspecific development at the Mills Rd./Rt. 126 intersection.
Stephen C. Smith, a licensed site evaluator and board member, represented owners of the former karate school structure and next-door Country Farms Restaurant at the Sept. 16 meeting. He accepted a board condition that the collapsed building be removed and the site cleared of all debris by Jan. 1, 2010.
Smith recused himself from the board’s proceedings. His daughter-in-law Milva Smith, married to Smith’s son Stephen, of Bangor, holds 100 percent stock in Bangor-based Alessandro Corp., which is also listed as owner of the restaurant.
The application was for “an economically feasible replacement for the existing commercial building.” The subject building is located next to the Superette store. Its past uses include a coin-operated laundry, thrift shop, ice cream stand and restaurant. Smith characterized future use as “light industrial, office, multi-use, residential.”
A public hearing held before last Wednesday’s meeting attracted two neighbors, abutter Arthur Gould and neighbor Tim Chase. Chase’s house is across Mills Rd. and he also owns land near the restaurant lot where he previously ran a wood-drying kiln.
Gould wanted guarantees his right of way south of the proposed replacement building wouldn’t be blocked. He also sought assurance that people using the new building wouldn’t be “sitting on my lawn and walking their dogs after having dinner” as had happened when the first, much smaller Country Farms Restaurant operated on the site. “I can live with snowmobilers coming up through there,” Gould said. “I like to leave it open as a fire lane.”
Chase’s concerns were lighting and drainage. “I’m okay with a street light but not a spotlight,” he said. Smith said there would be no lighting that would “shine on adjacent buildings” and he said he had a letter from the Dept. of Transportation confirming runoff plans comply with state stormwater rules.
As for wastewater disposal, the restaurant and collapsed building share a septic system. That system would be moved and enlarged, or a new system would be designed for the exclusive use of the new building, according to the application.
Complicating the procedure was the fact that redevelopment of the site may not occur for seven years. Alessandro has no immediate intentions to move forward.
Should there be changes, Smith said, “We may be back here in two years seeking modification to our permit.”
Completion of a notice to build must occur before the new structure is built.
Review, approval
During a step-by-step review using the development ordinance, board members Christi Mitchell (chair), Bob Bills, George Hall and Beth Whitman debated at length one standard in particular: that the proposed 50-by-130 ft. building “shall be related harmoniously to the terrain and existing natural features and to existing buildings, facilities and land uses in the vicinity of the development.”
Bills pointed out that Whitefield has no building code and no building standards other than this provision that new development “fit in” with neighborhood features.
It was pointed out that Smith provided a picture of a barn-like building with no elevations to suggest how large it would loom above existing buildings. The application states that “it will have a full foundation with a daylight basement and a ground floor,” a second floor, and clapboard or cedar shingle siding. The first two floors “may also have decks” facing all sides except Rt. 218.
Mitchell, while acknowledging that Smith had “made great attempts to integrate this into the environment,” voiced a concern about the size of the building relative to those surrounding it. She pointed out Country Farms Restaurant is 85 by 50 foot and has a considerably lower profile than the proposed new building. While large broiler houses and other three-storey buildings may be sprinkled across Whitefield’s landscape, they are not located in a village. “This is warehouse size,” she commented.
Smith said he understood her concern about what would be an admittedly “big building” but he justified it on grounds of economic feasibility. He also said trees and bushes would be planted.
Whitman objected that the size of the building wasn’t brought up at the hearing, as it should have been. She said the building’s mass is an important consideration, especially in a village setting.
Bills countered that the two people attending the advertised public hearing voiced “no objections to the size. When Country Farms went in, it was bigger than anything else there. No one brought up anything about size.” He also said, however, that the point was “valid, but we don’t have the tools to address it.”
Whitman abstained from voting on whether the application met the standard for harmonious relationship; Mitchell voted no, Hall and Bills voted yes.
Air and water quality standards and noise levels could not be addressed for a development where “the applicant hasn’t specified the use or function of the building,” in Bills’ words. The board therefore gave approval with the condition that the applicant meet all state and federal standards for those issues.
The building sits on a nonconforming (“grandfathered”) lot. Because of its size and shape, setbacks from property lines cannot be met. In approving the application 4-0, the board waived the requirement for a 50 foot setback for commercial development.
Other agenda items
Lee Richards, of ProKnee Corp., approached the board concerning a warehouse contiguous with an existing house he is planning to build on Rt. 17. The custom-made kneepad business employs 15 people, Richards said. “Hopefully this will add more jobs to the community.”
Richards said he has done exploratory groundwork, has DOT approval for tractor trailer access, and has blueprints of how the new building will tie into the existing building on the site.
Code enforcement officer Arthur Strout said he was on the brink of issuing a stop-work order if Richards hadn’t come to the board for an application.
Mitchell addressed last month’s citizen complaint concerning Steve McGee’s timber harvesting on his Vigue Rd. land. She said she’d checked with Dept. of Environmental Protection officials who determined that McGee did not violate conditions of his gravel mining permit requiring a 50 foot setback from property lines. Mitchell said McGee filed a forest harvest notification to cut 25 acres and this activity was not connected to gravel extraction.
CEO Strout investigated McGee’s timber operation to see if it violated the requirement for a 50 foot vegetative buffer fronting Vigue Road. “Not that I can see,” Strout told the board.
Bills and Steve Smith will meet next week to begin updating the town’s shoreland zoning ordinance. The board expects to have a revision prepared for March annual town meeting voters.
