WESTBROOK – After years of talks between the owners and the city of Westbrook, the old Maine Rubber building will be razed this summer.
Jerre Bryant, Westbrook city administrator, said in the next few days city officials and members of the Elowitch family, owners of the property, will meet to finalize the agreement. The building will come down within 90 days after it is finalized.
City councilors on Monday approved a land swap agreement and a zoning change to the area around the Maine Rubber building.
The agreement between the city and the property owners encompasses three parts: the city will use a $125,000 Community Development Block Grant to raze the building, a new use will be adopted for the zone where the building sits and the property owners and the city will exchange small parcels of land.
The primary change in the new Gateway West Contract Zone, which surrounds the building, is allowing a bank with a drive-through as a permitted use instead of a special exception.
Victor Chau, the only councilor opposed to the change, would not comment on why he did not vote favorably, although he said in previous meetings his constituents said they wanted something other than a drive-through bank on the property.
Bill Baker, Westbrook’s assistant city administrator for business and community relations, said no one expects a bank to go in the area, but the change allows for another selling point for the family.
A land swap will help if the building does become a drive-through. It gives the city a strip of land along William Clarke Drive between Mechanic Street and Saco Street in exchange for the city giving up a portion of Saco Street between William Clarke Drive and Main Street.
The swap gives the city enough land to build an extra turning lane on William Clarke Drive.
“Taken all together, we feel that this will create a domino effect in that area,” Baker said.
His first domino fell when Pete Profenno, owner of the longest running business on Main Street – Profenno’s Pizzeria – applied for a $50,000 city revolving loan fund.
Profenno’s loan was approved during Monday’s council meeting.
This is the first revolving loan fund the city has given out since 2008. Earlier this year, the council approved a new way to fund the program, using a line of credit. Before the change, the loans were funded through grants or bonds. The borrower would then pay back the city and the city would pay back the loans accordingly, which worked, but did not allow the funds to revolve.
According to Baker, Profenno knew his building would be more prominent once the warehouse came down and he wanted to make some improvements to the fac?ade.
Bryant said roadways might be slightly affected while demolition is taking place, but he did not see it as a situation where streets needed to be closed.
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