By Rick Wright

Staff Writer

The Cape Elizabeth Town Council wants to encourage more people to live in the town center with hopes it will spur economic activity.

The council on Monday approved an amendment to Cape Elizabeth’s Comprehensive Plan that increases residential development density in the town center.

Councilors Sara Lennon and Frank Governali opposed the motion. 

Residents made no comments during the public hearing.

The new ordinance permits one multi-family unit per 3,000 square feet of lot area. Previously, the minimum requirement was 7,500 square feet.

Under this plan, more apartment units would be allowed in town center buildings, provided the first floor remains nonresidential.

Councilor David Sherman Jr. said the amendment would permit multi-story buildings in the district to be more than 50 percent apartments.

The amendment was recommended by the council’s ordinance committee, which previously approved the measure.

Sherman, chairman of the ordinance committee, said he favored the amendment because it would make the town center more vibrant and promote diversity of housing in Cape Elizabeth.

He also said having more people living in the town center would help businesses in that area and persuade builders to develop vacant lots like the one next to town hall.

“If we were able to encourage the development of the lot next door … that’s more valuable than an empty lot,” Sherman said.

Planning Director Maureen O’Meara told the council the housing chapter of the Comprehensive Plan indicates the town should promote a diversity of housing types.

“I’m going to be supporting this motion,” Council Chairman Anne Swift-Kayatta said. “I think it’s very important that we follow the Comprehensive Plan. That plan is like the constitution of the town,”

Governali said the amendment would encourage more car traffic in the area, while he prefers more walkers and bikers. He also was concerned about promoting more building when the town already has too much vacant commercial space, he said.

“I’m not a proponent of more density in the downtown area,” Governali said. Citing the impact on traffic and schools, Governali said, “It doesn’t persuade me to be in favor of this motion.”

Lennon agreed with Governali, and added she wants more green space and less asphalt in the district to keep “that village feel.”

Councilor Jim Walsh envisioned the zoning change attracting singles and older couples to the town center.

“I like the diversity and the change in the housing mix that will come from this,” Walsh said. 

In other business, the council voted unanimously  to ask the Maine Department of Transportation to lower the speed limit on Route 77 near Rudy’s restaurant from 40 to 35 miles per hour.

The change would bring Rudy’s into compliance with a planning board directive to build a crosswalk across Route 77 from Broad Cove Road.

Town Manager Mike McGovern said, based on his experience with MDOT, it might take a long time to get an answer from the state agency. Because of that, O’Meara said the planning board might be willing to waive the crosswalk requirement, at least temporarily.

“Let’s give them the chance to do the right thing,” O’Meara said.

The council also voted 7-0 to allow the Fort Williams Advisory Commission to conduct a private fundraising campaign to pay for a feasibility study of turning Battery Blair into a visitor’s attraction. 

The Battery, built in 1903, needs approximately $1 to $1.5 million of restoration work, said Chuck Wilson, a member of the fort’s advisory commission. The feasibility study will cost about $36,000, Wilson told the council.

Rick Wright can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 237 or news@inthesentry.com.