By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
Out with the old and in with the new.
The site of the former Newick’s Seafood Restaurant has been razed, after more than 30 years of business at 740 Broadway, and this week the South Portland Planning Board paved the way for a mixed office, retail and restaurant development at the site and reviewed conceptual designs for a gated condominium development, potentially the third such community in the city.
With a unanimous vote, the planning board granted final approved to T&T Development, LLC of Portland for a Broadway Business Park at the Newick’s site. While the planning board favored the designs, it imposed several conditions of approval during Tuesday’s meeting to ease abutters concerns about the project.
The development will consist of two single-story buildings; 15,000-and 7,000-square-feet in size. Access to the site’s 115 parking spaces, located in the front and at the rear of the smaller building, will be provided via two existing curb cuts on Broadway.
The plans also include a 10-foot-wide drive-through lane and a 24-foot-wide one-way travel lane around the rear of the smaller building to accommodate a drive-through pickup window.
The planning board heard from eight residents – and allowed some individuals to speak more than once – who had mixed feelings about the development.
Artis Bernard, a member of the conservation commission, said she was speaking as a resident when she questioned the merit of the project.
“What is the need for this project when we already have empty buildings in Mill Creek Park and we already have empty buildings at the Maine Mall?” she said. “What we don’t have is parks and open space.”
Planning Director Tex Haeuser read a letter from former City Councilor Rosemarie De Angelis, who said neighbors were not given a sufficient opportunity to provide input.
“The neighborhood participation was neither welcomed or encouraged,” she stated.
Gary Crosby, who said he owns roughly 368 feet of abutting land and has lived next door to the property for nearly 24 years, said De Angelis did not represent the whole neighborhood.
Crosby said the lights from Newick’s flooded into his backyard and he is in favor of a development that will generate less traffic.
Crosby also owns a laundromat next door to the site and said he plans to make changes to his own building to “continue the look up the street.”    
The site’s drive-through window will service The Freaky Bean Coffee Company.
Tasha Hurtubise, a designer and draftsman with T&T Development, said Freaky Bean; Gentiva Health Services, a home healthcare provider; a tuxedo shop and a hair salon have signed leases. She said T&T Development is also in negotiations with several restaurants.
“Conceptually, I don’t like drive-throughs,” said planning board member Don Russell. He said the plans were not his “ideal vision,” but did improve a “space that was a little worn and tired to say the least.”
Russell said he favored fewer rear parking spaces, a taller building and a new location for the dumpster. Addressing residents who felt left out of the process, he said people who want to keep drive-throughs out of their neighborhoods should form a citizen group to start a “drive-through moratorium.”
Haeuser proposed limiting potential restaurant hours of operation beyond the restrictions in the city’s limited business (L zone, which states restaurants may not be open between the hours of 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. The planning board issued a condition of approval requiring restaurants to close by midnight. The board also required dumpster pickup be limited to the hours between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Sean Frank of Sebago Technics said a 25-to 30-foot buffer of trees would also be retained at the rear of the buildings to help absorb noise from the drive-through area.
Haeuser said he was hesitant to ask for more trees as the developer has already planned for heavy landscaping on the site, but he suggested pine trees be added to fill in the rear buffer.
Mike Hays, an architect with the Falmouth firm, Grant-Hays Associates, said the building design calls for New England village style with cupolas. From the ground to the cupolas, the building will be roughly 48 feet tall, he said.
Planning board member Carol Thorne questioned whether it was possible to install dimmers in the cupolas.
Hays said the glass panes in the cupolas will be opaque, reducing the light to a “faint glow.” As a condition of approval, Jim Talbot, of T&T Development, will submit a photometric plan prior to pre-construction meetings.
The property is also located within the Shoreland Area Overlay District and Thorne said she was surprised to learn from the city’s ordinances that “Anthoine Creek does not qualify for any setbacks in the LB zone.”
Frank said the rear of the building is roughly 70 feet from Anthoine Creek, which eventually drains into Casco Bay.
Planning Board Chairman Rob Schreiber said the zoning committee is meeting on Oct. 17 to discuss an update to the city’s wetland regulations.
Hays said the building will be LEED certified - a benchmark for high performing, “green” buildings. Schreiber said the project would be the first LEED certified building in South Portland.
As a condition of approval, Talbot will also be required to make the site more pedestrian friendly. Although the project is located within the Knightville Mill Creek TIF district, Haeuser said the city still has to “lean on developers for things directly related to their development.”
The planning board will require Talbot to re-pave the existing sidewalk along Broadway, which connects with crosswalks and sidewalks on the property. In addition, T&T Development must contribute $2,500 to install a textured, thermoplastic crosswalk adjacent to Buttonwood Street.