A new, 40-acre condominium project in Cape Elizabeth has residents ready to fight to keep their neighborhood the quiet, rural place they moved into.
A site walk will be held at 8 a.m. Saturday at 68 Eastman Road as part of the Cape Elizabeth Planning Board’s review of the 46-unit Eastman Meadows Condominium project, proposed by local developer Joel Fitzpatrick. Eastman Road is off Sawyer Road, and connects to Spurwink Avenue.
Fitzpatrick said the design of the single-story condominiums, which feature wider halls and doorways, is geared “to fit the need of the retired, empty-nester crowd.” Though the project is not deeded to restrict others from purchasing the condos, which Fitzpatrick said will range in price from $350,000 to $450,000, he believes that the development will not be as attractive to families as it will be to retirees.
Some neighbors don’t see it that way.
“It’s not going to attract 55 and older,” said neighbor Lisa Gent. “It’s going to be families with young kids, and they need services from the town.”
Gent, who has lived on Sawyer Road for about 15 years, has three children of her own in the school system.
Fitzpatrick said he already has 20 people on a waiting list to buy a condominium, and the majority fit into the targeted group.
“People with families don’t want anything to do with it,” he said. “They don’t want condominiums like this.”
Fitzpatrick said that though the condominiums could also be attractive to single mothers or young couples without children, he knows the demand is highest for empty nesters looking to downsize.
“I’ve had people ask me, ‘Where can us retired folks go and stay in Cape?'” he said. “A lot of people want to sell their four-bedroom, three-bath home, and get a lock-up in the winter and go to Florida for a couple of months. They want to scale back.”
By moving into a less expensive home, he said, people can save money in order to travel during their retirement. He said the residences will be quiet, clean and easy to take care of.
“There is a need for this in Cape Elizabeth,” he said.
Regardless of who moves into the condominium, the development will produce additional traffic, which remains the primary concern for neighbors. They say the road is insufficient for handling an increase in the number of cars.
Cecil Bowden has lived on Eastman Road for more than 60 years. He said when he moved in it was a dirt road.
“It’s quiet and nice,” he said. “I like it the way it is.”
David Plimpton, a Sawyer Road resident, said he is concerned with speeding and unsafe driving.
“I think it’s way too much for the area,” he said.
Gent said traffic issues already exist on Sawyer Road. She said there has already been an increase in number of cars traveling on the “curvy and crumbling” road, and there are safety concerns.
“It has turned into a feeder road,” she said. “It’s a rural road.”
Gent called the development as a whole “grossly inappropriate for the area.”
Planning board member Peter Hatem said he would not comment on the project because it is in the middle of the approval process, but said he was looking forward to hearing and addressing the concerns of neighbors at the coming meetings regarding the project. The planning board meets Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m., but a public hearing for the project has not been scheduled yet.
Fitzpatrick said if the project were approved, he would hope to have people living in the condominiums as early as this time next year. He said the criticism he has heard from neighbors is nothing he hasn’t encountered before.
“We’ve had it not so bad, and we’ve had it worse,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of positive input from other people in town because there is a need for it.”
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