If approved, Sebago Heights – a potential 91 house development off Pipeline Road in Windham – will be the biggest residential subdivision in the town’s history.
The development would create a new neighborhood next to the Raymond border situated on 175 acres of woodland with 1.5 miles of new road and houses with views of Sebago Lake and the White Mountains. Developers have also offered to donate 45 acres of “open space” to the town, improve access roads and deliver public water to residents of the adjacent neighborhood of Colonial Park Drive, Plummer Road and Pipeline Road.
But neighbors and town officials are wary of the proposed Sebago Heights because of public safety concerns. They worry that increased traffic will create a dangerous situation at the intersection of Route 302 and Colonial Park Drive, the only entrance point from Route 302 into the new development.
On Monday Dec. 12, the Windham Planning Board is poised to vote yea or nay on its approval at a public hearing held at 7 p.m. at the Town Offices. This may be the final opportunity for those concerned to voice their opinions.
Windham’s newest neighborhood?
Sebago Heights is designed to be phased in over time, says co-developer Greg McCormack. Engineering maps for Sebago Heights detail five phases with roughly 20 houses per phase. One-hundred-foot wooded buffers would shelter the neighborhood with the extension of Quinn Road and the creation of Bittersweet Way as entrances to the development. Several houses would rest on what was once a gravel pit owned by Stanley Quinn. This gravel pit is scheduled to be reclaimed and graded if the subdivision is approved.
When asked how the new neighborhood would fit in with surrounding neighborhoods, McCormack said it would fit “very well” in his opinion.
“Having 91 lots in one area is better than having 91 lost strewn throughout the town,” said McCormack. “I think in the long run it will be very nice.”
McCormack and business partner Amy Mulkerin, owner of Mulkerin Associates where the two work, formed Sebago Heights LLC for this project. They have been working on the project for nearly three years, spoken with residents about the impacts and received permits from the Department of Environmental Protection.
Mulkerin said they choose the area because they see Windham as a growing community.
“We’ve really had a positive response, not a negative one.” Mulkerin said. “It’s a beautiful location and we know Windham very well.”
‘Fatal Flaw’
In a letter submitted to the Planning Board, Town Manager Tony Plante urged the Planning Board not to grant approval to the Sebago Heights development based on traffic concerns.
Plante argues in the letter that increased traffic at the intersection of Colonial Park Drive and Route 302 will only worsen and is a “bad situation.”
Plante went on to say that town staff had approached the Department of Transportation (MDOT) about the possibility of installing a traffic light at the intersection, but their efforts proved unsuccessful.
Official documents reveal that a traffic count conducted by MDOT gave a count 97 trips at peak hours. A count of 100 trips would necessitate a traffic signal at the intersection.
“Many issues have been raised and addressed,” Plante wrote in his letter. “But there remains a fatal flaw in this proposal, which is that the transportation infrastructure is simply not sufficient to support this development without seriously and adversely affecting public safety.”
Water Stinson, Sebago Technic’s president and consulting engineer for the Sebago Heights subdivision, said the developers do have plans to create a right-hand turn lane exiting Colonial Park Drive.
“Anytime you build new homes you’re going to build more traffic,” Stinson said. “The question is, does it meet generally applicable standards? And it does.”
Right turn lane?
The developers have also put forth a request to have the speed limit lowered from 50 mph to 35 mph to allow for safer access.
Current neighbors complain that they already have to wait for long periods to exit onto Route 302 and that it is sometimes impossible to make a left turn to head south into North Windham.
However, MDOT advised against a right-hand deceleration lane on Route 302 turning into the development, citing that it would cause more “negative effects than positive.”
Both the developers and the town of Windham had their own traffic engineers assess the situation. Both suggested lowering the speed limit and creation of turning lanes to help ease the access onto Route 302.
But the creation of a right-hand turn lane won’t rectify the situation, says Police Chief Rick Lewsen. He believes the only solution is to install a traffic light.
“If they are going to have development, it’s a severe traffic safety issue that should be straightened out by the developer,” Lewsen said.
Lewsen has received numerous complaints from neighbors about the intersection and traffic in the surrounding neighborhood where many young children play. He is also concerned for the safety of school buses as they turn in and out of Colonial Park Drive.
In a letter to the Planning Board, Lewsen addressed these concerns, calculating that Sebago Heights would create “four times the amount of traffic” and result in four times the amount of accidents at the intersection.
Fire Chief Charlie Hammond and Public Works Director Doug Fortier have put forth similar concerns.
“If you have major accident at that intersection, there’s no alternative way to get around,” Hammond said.
Raymond says no
The developers had approached the town of Raymond about the possibility of creating an exit road onto Route 302 in Raymond that would connect with Patricia Avenue. Robert Faunce, Raymond’s code enforcer at the time, however advised against it.
Though Colonial Park Drive is the only approved exit for traffic from the Sebago Heights development, Viola Avenue is a short distance up Pipeline Road, just cross the Raymond border.
Raymond Town Manager Don Willard is concerned that the traffic created by Sebago Heights would start using Viola Avenue as an alternative exit onto Route 302. Neighbors already complain about gravel trucks that pass through on a regular basis and say the road can’t handle heavy traffic. However, there is no way to prohibit traffic from crossing the border and using Viola Avenue.
Neighbors concern
Kathleen March lives on Plummer Road with her husband and four young children.
“My biggest concern is traffic,” March said. “On our little stretch of road we have 14 children all under the age of 15.”
Neighborhood children play in the yards and bicycle down the roads which both slope down at an incline. She doesn’t let her kids play in the road itself because of the danger, but other kids have been known to sled down the street in the winter.
The prospect of sidewalks on the roads appeals to her, but the possibility of more traffic would put her kids in danger from motorists trying to exit from the neighborhood.
“It can be a real nightmare and a hazard,” March said. “I’m also for development as long as the developer respects the people that are here.”
Alison Rosborough and her husband Robert are happy about the possibility of public water if the Sebago Heights gets approval. But the traffic is already bad for commuters and also worries about her young children playing in the neighborhood with the increased traffic.
“I know when I leave at 8 a.m. I’m at the end of the street and there are three and four cars behind me,” Rosborough said.
She says there hasn’t been a responsible “reaction” from the developers as far as the children’s safety is concerned. She says they are not seeing “the big picture” in terms of what problems the increased traffic would cause.
She, like March, is not “against” the development as long as the residents currently residing in the neighborhood are taken care of.
Judy Nowak, another neighbor on Colonial Park Drive, echoes this sentiment.
There is already “bumper to bumper” traffic trying to exit Colonial Drive in the morning, she said.
She’s not interested in public water or sidewalks or other improvements the developers have promised. She’s concerned about the traffic and safety and doesn’t believe changing the speed limit on Route 302 will make a difference. There remains only one way out onto Route 302 in Windham.
“I don’t think anyone minds 91 houses being up here,” Nowak said. “What we mind is that (the new residents) won’t have any good way to get out.”
Looking south, the intersection of Colonial Park Road and Route 302. Neighbors and town officials are concerned that traffic created by a proposed 91-house development Send questions/comments to the editors.
