Staff Writer 

 Last week, more than 16 years after she bought the three-story building at 551 Shore Road, Cape Elizabeth resident Jane Waning submitted a request to the town council that the property be rezoned to a Residential C (RC) property. Waning said she purchased the property – now valued at $300,000 in the town’s Business A (BA) district – with the belief it was located in a residential zone and believes it was accidentally included in the BA district more than 20 years ago. 

Her request, however, may reflect the desires of the entire neighborhood and affect more than her own property.

“The building next door [553 Shore Road] is not large enough for a commercial enterprise,” Waning said. “I don’t want a business next door.”

The rezoning request comes two years after nearby property owner Emily Materson said she and other members of the North Shore Neighborhood Association were “shocked” to discover the building – built around the turn of the 20th century for L. L. Bean – was not zoned residential. Town Planner Maureen O’Meara said the property had been included in BA zoning maps since 1989. 

“All records prior to 1987 show her property as residential,” Materson said. 

Waning said she and members of the North Shore Neighborhood Association also discussed what rezoning her property could mean for her neighbor, Lee Wilson,  owner of 553 Shore Road. As reported by the Sentry in November, Wilson plans to convert the first floor to a “small retail space,” with offices on the second floor and possibly a tenant on the third – a project the neighborhood association has openly opposed since its formation.

Materson said she had hoped Waning’s rezoning request would keep 553 Shore Road from being rezoned BA – as is recommended by the planning board’s BA updates, which would put a halt on Wilson’s development plans.

Waning said she shares the North Shore Neighborhood Association’s opinion on the expansion of businesses in the area, but only to a certain point.

Waning currently rents portions of her home to two tenants, as is permitted in the BA district. When contacted by the Sentry after filing her request with the town council, Waning said she was unaware her 11,000-square foot lot would not meet a three-acre minimum requirement for a multifamily dwelling in an RC zone.

“I had never heard that before,” she said. 

Waning said she would not have filed the request had she known it could jeopardize her tenants, something neither North Shore Neighborhood Association members nor town officials had made clear to her.

“This is my home, I plan to live here and continue to have tenants,” she said. “I feel I’ve been kind of used.” 

Materson and other members of the group said Waning’s property should be grandfathered as a multifamily dwelling even if it is rezoned RC. O’Meara said the planning board can carry over any non-conforming use, but Town Councilor David Sherman said he would not expect grandfathering clauses to apply to the Waning residence since the zone change was at her request.

“My understanding is non-conforming uses are generally allowed when a zone change comes upon you,” Sherman said. “[Waning] is requesting this voluntarily, she’s kind of bringing it upon herself.”

The council unanimously voted to refer Waning’s request to the planning board although Sherman said he would “not be inclined” to support it since the planning board had “already taken up the issue” during their year-long review of the BA district.

“Any arguments for or against would be virtually identical,” he said.

Timing alone may decide the future of 551 and 553 Shore Road.

Town Manager Michael McGovern said the ordinance committee could recommend Waning’s request be included as part of the BA overhaul proposal in an effort to “act expeditiously” but O’Meara was not optimistic about a quick response. She said it could take the planning board up to two years to address Waning’s request, but the proposed amendments to the BA district – which include rezoning 553 Shore Road – could be before the town council by next month.

“That’s a riot,” Materson said of the two-year timeline.

Materson said delaying Waning’s request was further proof O’Meara and the planning board commonly disregard the opinions of residents in the neighborhood.

 “The comprehensive plan was a really big deal, but that’s done. Now they’re supposed to have this huge backlog of work?” she asked. “My hope would be since [Waning’s rezoning request] is a more legit request, it would trump the rezoning of 553 Shore Road, [as is recommended in the proposed BA overhaul]. It looks like that won’t happen.” 

The proposed BA overhaul was forwarded to the town council ordinance committee in November and has yet to be forwarded to the council.