On Monday night, the Westbrook City Council approved a zone change clearing the way for a major retirement community between Stroudwater and Spring streets.
In addition, the council gave preliminary approval to a tax increment financing agreement tied to Idexx’s expansion.
The zone change will enable Sandy River Health Systems, operators of the Springbrook Nursing Care Center, to build its planned retirement community. The tax increment financing agreement will enable Idexx to purchase and renovate its current facility and build additional office space across the street.
Several residents spoke in favor of changing the zoning of the 53-acres that Sandy River Health Systems plans to purchase from the Animal Refuge League for a 200-unit retirement campus.
“I’m not up here for a political reason because I’m never going to run for a political office,” said John Searles, owner of Town & Country Motors. “I’m not up here for a financial reason because I can afford my taxes. But I am up here for the elderly. Why would we not use that land for assisted living for the elderly?”
“I contribute and donate to the Animal Refuge League,” Searles continued. “I’d like to see it all stay rural for the animals. But this isn’t the country. This is the city of Westbrook. And these people need that housing. And more seriously, all of the citizens of Westbrook would agree with me that the increased tax dollars are what we all would like to see.”
Carolyn Snyder of Stroudwater Street also was in favor of rezoning the land for the retirement community. “I have lived on Stroudwater Street for 47 years and believe that the Sandy River proposal will be a great addition to the neighborhood,” she said. “I personally am very interested in moving across the street into this development. I have been thinking about downsizing and this fits very well with what I have been looking for.”
Councilor John O’Hara said he was concerned that Westbrook was getting younger families into the city but not providing for its older residents. “What we lack is a fundamental retirement community that most areas in greater Portland now offer,” he said. “What a terrible thing to have when you can raise your children in a community, dedicate your life to the community you live in. Then you want to now downsize and still reside in the community but not have the burden of homeownership (and are unable to do that).”
Councilor Drew Gattine, who has been opposed to the project, said he was concerned that the council may not have any controls over what Sandy River actually builds in the area once a zone change is made.
City Administrator Jerre Bryant said the city would have the ability to reverse the zone change if Sandy River did not hold true to its original intentions. In the end, the council passed the zone change by a vote of 6 to 1, with only Gattine opposing it.
Sandy River representative Daniel Maguire said he was happy with the decision and was looking forward to providing Westbrook with a retirement community that could provide “an array of services” for seniors.
Following the discussion of the zone change, the council voted unanimously in favor of the tax increment financing agreement between Idexx and Westbrook.
Before the vote, Bryant spoke briefly about the agreement and the benefits of having an international company like Idexx in Maine, where tax burdens and high costs of operating and providing insurance make it difficult to attract such large companies.
“In order to try to level that playing field and compete effectively with other states that could attract these types of businesses, we need to put together economic incentives of this nature,” Bryant said.
Idexx Director of Facilities Management Dick Daigle discussed Idexx’s plans for Westbrook. These plans include working with the schools to help develop skilled workers to go along with the well-paying opportunities that the company will now provide for recent college graduates who normally have to seek work out of state.
“For me, this case is really a textbook case of why tax increment financing is to be used,” Westbrook resident Arthur Woolverton told the council. “You’ve got a company that’s a worldwide company that’s investing in the community. They’re saying that they’re going to spend $100 million, that they’re going to work with our kids, that they’re going to do all the right things.”
Janet Yancey-Wrona, science advisor to Gov. John Baldacci, spoke about the importance of having large private companies such as Idexx performing research and development in Maine. “There’s a lack of private sector research and development (in Maine),” she said. “Nationally, the private sector makes up 84 percent of all research and development activity. In Maine, our private sector only contributes 65 percent of our research and development activity.”
The agreement with Idexx is expected to bring approximately $5 million in new taxes by the end of its 20-year term to the city of Westbrook.
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