The 1.6-million-square-foot retail development planned for Stroudwater Street will face its next challenge – the City Council – backed by positive recommendations from the Planning Board.
The board voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend approval of the contract zone proposed by Jason Snyder to develop his 60-some acres between Stroudwater Street and Westbrook Arterial.
Next, the City Council will decide how to proceed with its review of the contract zone, along with the proposed changes to the city’s comprehensive plan, for which the Planning Board recommended approval last month. The item has not yet been scheduled on a meeting agenda.
Anna Wrobel, the only Planning Board member to vote against the changes to the comprehensive plan last month, was absent from Tuesday’s meeting. Alternate Scott Herrick voted in her place.
Snyder first proposed the project in February, when he and his team of architects described it as a destination development – replete with high-end retail, restaurants and community amenities, such as a skating rink and a farmers market.
That vision was brought up at the public hearing Tuesday by people on both sides of the debate. Supporters said it was an opportunity Westbrook can’t give up. The opposition argued, however, that without more specific language in the contract zone, the project could end up being far from what they imagine.
Though board members debated changing some of the language in the contract zone Tuesday regarding lighting, landscaping and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, they ultimately decided to leave the amendments up to the City Council.
That decision didn’t sit well with board member Cory Fleming, who was behind several of the proposed amendments. She reminded her colleagues that, as an advisory board to the City Council, they are expected to let councilors know what they think are best practices.
Currently, the property is zoned business/professional office. In the contract zone, among other changes, Snyder proposes to increase the number of permitted uses and decrease the percentage of required landscaping.
In order to give final approval to the contract zone, the City Council first has to change the comprehensive plan, so that the two documents are consistent. Last month, the Planning Board recommended changing the comprehensive plan to allow for higher density, less open space and more retail.
Before the vote Tuesday, several Westbrook residents, many of whom have spoken up about the project before, as well as people from beyond the city’s boundaries, told the board and audience that nearly filled Room 114 at Westbrook High School, their concerns about and excitement for the project.
David Travers of Waltham Street said even if the buildings were LEED certified, he is worried about the environmental effects of the construction of such a large project. He also said he was concerned about what other kinds of development in the area the project might spur.
“Just look at the Maine Mall,” he said.
Patrick Peoples argued for the project, saying the area was ripe for development anyway, and that he’d hate to see “a bit of a jewel” passed up, only to have something second-rate built in its stead.
Stroudwater Street resident Elizabeth Gattine, whose husband is City Councilor Drew Gattine, listed several specific issues she had with the contract zone, such as the addition of nearly 30 new permitted uses in the zone, a maximum height requirement higher than anything else allowed in the city and lack of regulation on noise, odor and buffering.
She reminded the board that it is the contract zone that binds the applicant to building the project as described.
“If it’s not in this contract, it’s not there,” she said.
Gattine’s neighbor, Deborah Rumery, said she echoed those sentiments.
“I still see a deficiency of details,” she said.
From outside of Westbrook, John Hanson, executive director of Maine State Building and Construction Trades, spoke in support of the project, saying it would bring much-needed jobs to Maine construction workers, who are increasingly being forced to find work out of state.
“I hope I have an opportunity to come back to Westbrook,” he said, urging the board to move forward with the project.
Planning Board Chairman Ed Reidman also read a letter from the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development, which recently met with Snyder.
“We are excited about the economic opportunity this can bring to Westbrook and southern Maine,” he read.
After the meeting, Snyder said he feels as though at least 90 percent of Westbrook residents are in support of the project. However, he said, he will have to wait to see how the project is met by the City Council.
“I’ve learned never to be optimistic,” he said.
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