GORHAM – With opposition already on record in the neighborhood, a public hearing on a proposed Cumberland Farms convenience store and gas station in South Gorham will likely pack a Town Council meeting next week.
Cumberland Farms, which has a store and pumps in Gorham Village, is asking Gorham to amend a contract zone where it wants to build on a site Hans Hansen owns at 74 County Road in South Gorham. In 2011, the town approved Hansen’s contract zone that would allow businesses including gas stations.
Town officials have envisioned a New England-style village for development in the South Gorham area, with parking behind the buildings. But, Cumberland Farms seeks changes that would allow parking in the front and sides of its proposed building.
If the council turns down the amendment request, Hansen is concerned about the fate of the project.
“I think they may walk,” Hansen said on Tuesday about Cumberland Farms.
The Town Council will consider the amendment matter at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 1, in Gorham Municipal Center, 75 South St. The council earlier this month postponed its decision on the issue to October, allowing councilors time to study plans in Exhibit A, a printed packet several pages thick with details and depictions of the project.
Town Council Chairman Philip Gagnon said on Wednesday that Exhibit A shows a diesel pump and an underground diesel storage tank, along with gasoline pumps and a gasoline storage tank.
“The existing contract zone says only gasoline sales are allowed, and does not reference diesel sales,” Gagnon said.
“As is custom at every council meeting this year, I will reopen comment from the community, as new information was presented in Exhibit A. It is only fair to let the public have its say,” Gagnon said.
The Planning Board has already recommended adoption of the contract zone amendment regarding parking. The Planning Board reviewed and held a public hearing on the amendment issue at the behest of the Town Council.
Cumberland Farms’ plans for a 4,513-square-foot convenience store and gas station would require final approval by the town’s Planning Board.
In the council’s September meeting, Tom Greer, of Pinkham and Greer Consulting Engineers, representing Cumberland Farms, said the store would have clapboard siding and a pitched roof with dormers.
The project is proposed for the site where two major commuter arteries merge at the intersection of County Road (Route 22) and South Street (Route 114). The store would be situated on a lot in front of the Mercy Hospital medical facility, which is housed in the renovated building that once was Hansen’s agricultural store.
Two years ago, Hansen was the first in a parade of South Gorham landowners granted contract zone agreements by the town.
Albert Frick of 95 County Road and one of several granted a contract zone in the area, said in a letter on Sept. 9 to town councilors that he and his wife, Charlene Frick, in general support of the proposed commercial project.
“We are opposed to the variance request to allow parking in the front of buildings unless the performance standard for landscaping provides proper mitigation and this standard is also available for all future upcoming applications,” Frick wrote.
The County Road area is a mix of businesses and homes. In public meetings, neighbors with wells voiced concerns that included possible contamination of ground water and increased traffic.
The area is not served by public water and sewer. Town approval of the Cumberland Farms proposal would require the company pay $10,000 into a fund for a sewer line extension sometime in the future.
Hansen, a former well driller, said Tuesday he felt neighborhood fears were unfounded. Hansen said the gas station would include safeguards, and storm water would be filtered.
He also described soils as “hardpan and glacier till” at the gas station site.
“The soils are ideal for this type of operation,” Hansen said. “You can’t drive pollution through it.”
The intersection is known for rush-hour backups. A traffic engineer, speaking in a previous Planning Board meeting, indicated the proposed store would not add more traffic to the system.
Hansen said the signalized intersection would be widened slightly to accommodate a westbound left-turn lane that would be added on Route 22. The turn lane would eliminate the current sign prohibiting a left turn onto Blue Ledge Road, one of two accesses to the medical facility and the proposed store.
Hansen said he previously spent about $500,000 upgrading the intersection, and he expects to pay about another $30,000 for minor intersection improvements in connection with the Cumberland Farms proposal.
To screen the proposed facility, he said, a landscaped area approximately 75 feet in width would have about 150 trees and shrubs between the project and Route 22.
Hansen said the Cumberland Farms project would cost between $2 million and $3 million dollars and would generate about $50,000 in property taxes.
“It will create a lot of jobs,” Hansen said.
Besides the Cumberland Farms site, Hansen has eight more lots available for development.
“It’s a centerpiece for the rest of the development,” Hansen said.
In concluding his lengthy letter, Frick said abutters with and without contract zoning agreements are watching the Cumberland Farms proposal.
“This parcel is the focal point of South Gorham Village and will undoubtedly be setting the stage for what’s to come,” Frick wrote.
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