SCARBOROUGH — The Downs developers are asking the Town Council members for an exemption to the Scarborough’s Growth Management Ordinance (GMO) so that the Town Center planning can continue, and workforce and affordable housing can continue to be built within the Town Center. 

Under the town’s housing cap, The Downs is only allowed  housing 43 permits annually.

That’s not enough, developers say. 

The developers say their vision for a town center requires about 1,000 dwellings within a five-minute walk to support businesses they hope to bring to the area, according to the Portland Press Herald.

Under the current cap, the Downs would have to wait years to secure the number of housing permits to build a modern mixed-used Town Center, developers say.

Without the GMO exemption, it would be impossible for developers to start the Town Center, finance the necessary infrastructure, and attract new restaurants and retail stores.  

If it received the exemption, The Downs would be able to begin planning and developing the Town Center without having to wait years to secure the appropriate number of permits to proceed with the project. Developers said that the success of the Town Center would rely on housing. If the GMO exemption is denied, developers said they would have to build on market demand and not build to help solve the state’s housing crisis.

Developers presented their town center proposal to the Town Council on Feb. 9, including architect’s renderings by Cube 3 of Massachusetts and Florida. They are seeking a blanket exemption that would allow construction of an undetermined number of mixed-use and multifamily buildings in a 90-acre area near the defunct racetrack and former Grand Stand building, which would be torn down, according to Press Herald Staff Writer Kelly Bouchard.

According to Brian O’Connor, founding partner of CUBE 3, the new Town Center would have a variety of amenities and benefits for the use and enjoyment by the Scarborough community. 

“This idea and generating a sense of place that’s community focused not for the residents of The Downs but for the town is really the core goal here,” O’Connor said. 

The Town Center would include places for dining, entertainment, shopping, visiting, gathering, events and recreation. Instead of franchise stores and restaurants, there would be local mom and pop restaurants and local retail stores.

The Town Center would also help address the current housing crisis, he said. The design includes a mix of multi-family housing and single-family housing. Only 17 percent of housing is single-family and multiple units have been bought or are even sold out. Over 400 people currently live in The Downs. 

The Town Community Center site would be home to a pool, child-care, a senior space and other recreational and civic use. The recreational space created at The Downs would also include 8,300 feet of walking trails and 3.3 miles of bike lanes. 

The Downs project broke ground in 2018 and the business hub is already sold out. Due to COVID-19, the plan was put on hold for a while but that didn’t stop businesses wanting in on the new town project. At full buildout, The Downs will be valued at $615 million dollars and will bring in over $10 million dollars in new tax revenue for the Town of Scarborough, according to developers. The new Town Center and Community Center will help create over 3,000 new jobs.

Part of the planning includes addressing existing and projected traffic concerns.

Scarborough has seen a huge traffic strain over the years and has been working with the Maine Department of Transportation to ease the amount of daily traffic. The Downs, The Town of Scarborough and the Maine Department of Transportation are working on a $13.5 million-dollar collaborative project to ease the traffic and improve 37 major intersections.

After two years of planning the project, numerous improvements would be made which will include, adaptive stop lights, major intersections will be redesigned and widened that will include the Payne Road, Haigis Parkway, County and Gorham Roads and the areas of Oak Hill, according to project plans. The project would also address pedestrian improvements with the expansion of sidewalks in numerous areas. 

“Traffic and intersection improvements will begin across 37 intersections and high congestion areas throughout Scarborough and South Portland, up to the Gorham town line. The majority of work will be completed by 2025. The project aims to comprehensively address longstanding traffic congestion problems for the region” said The Downs in a previous statement.  

According to a statement made by The Downs, there is a three-way financial partnership between The Downs, The Town of Scarborough and the DOT. 

“The three-way financial partnership includes $2.8M from the Town of Scarborough, $3M from MDOT’s Business Partnership Initiative and $8.2M of private investment will come from The Downs. The Town Council in Scarborough voted 7–0 to approve the partnership and allocate previously collected impact fees. The municipality will not use taxpayer funding,” The Downs said. 

The traffic improvements are set to be completed over the course of five years and most of the work will take place by the year 2024. 

The next step for the Town Council and The Downs will be to meet with consultants to go over the work more and discuss the findings publicly. The next meeting to discuss The Downs project and the GMO exemption will most likely take place this spring. 

Portland Press Herald Staff Writer Kelly Bouchard contributed to this article.

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