WESTBOOK – Following a successful Planning Board vote on Tuesday, a zone change proposal for a parcel of land between Westbrook Arterial and Stroudwater Street, formerly known as “Stroudwater Place,” will move to the City Council for further vetting.
Planning Board members voted 5-2 in favor of making a recommendation that the council support the zone change, which if successful, would result in the purchase of the roughly 60-acre parcel by J.B. Brown & Sons, a Portland-based developer.
Vincent Veroneau, president and CEO of J.B. Brown & Sons, presented his company’s proposal to the Planning Board last month. The plan calls for rezoning the property into a roughly 45-acre zone for potential commercial development, and a 15-acre zone for possible residential development.
The land was once the site of the ambitious development plan known as Stroudwater Place. That plan was subsequently abandoned following foreclosure last year.
Original landowner Jason Snyder first proposed Stroudwater Place, a 1.6-million-square-foot project, complete with upscale retail stores such as Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s, in 2008, but due to the foreclosure the land was sold back to mortgage lender Kimco Capital.
Planning Board Chairman Ed Reidman said Tuesday that the board “only makes a recommendation,” and that in his experience, he’s seen council decisions “go both ways.”
Reidman said the rezoning is a needed change to Westbrook’s comprehensive plan, which is a long-term guide to future growth and development.
The comprehensive plan is “a living document,” he said. “It allows for growth and change.”
If approved, the zone change would shift the zone from Stroudwater Place to what’s known as a “Gateway Commercial District” off of the arterial, and “Residential Growth Area 2,” stemming from Stroudwater. Veroneau indicated that a residential development could yield roughly 18 housing lots.
City Planner Molly Just said Tuesday that the zone change is necessary in terms of the comprehensive plan, as “a matter of housekeeping,” considering the surrounding properties are zoned similarly. “It is well-established land use policy that you rezone a property to a nearby or compatible zoning district in order to maintain a consistent pattern of uses,” she said.
Just also said the land is highly valuable from a developmental standpoint because of its frontage on the Westbrook Arterial. “This highway has a tremendous capacity for cars, generated by existing and future development,” she said. “It’s not often that we find this combination.”
While Snyder has publically said he still feels that “the current contract zone is in the best interest of Westbrook,” neighboring residents such as Mark and Betty Crandell are worried about what a development will mean for them.
During a public meeting this month, Veroneau shared a very preliminary sketch of a possible development option, which depicts a road developed directly between the Crandell’s property and the Snyder house.
“I don’t mind the idea for the development so much,” Betty Crandell said. “But I do worry about the road.”
Earlier this month, Deborah Rumery, who lives across from the property in question, said the potential development by J.B. Brown would be more “respectful of the neighbors” than the previous Stroudwater Place plan.
“I think it’s more in line with the vision that some of us have of keeping some quality of life in the community, and respecting the rural aspects of it,” she said.
The City Council will most likely begin discussions on the zone change at their upcoming meeting on Monday, Jan. 27. Pending council approval, any future development plan would return to the Planning Board for approval.
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