Pine Point condo plan clears hurdle

SCARBOROUGH — One of the most controversial properties in Scarborough went under the Planning Board gavel Monday night, but unlike previous appearances, objection was muted, while praise from public officials was generous.

Nick and Peter Truman, who co-own the Lighthouse Inn at Pine Point, have initiated plans to convert their 22-unit seasonal motel at 3 King St. into eight luxury condominiums to be occupied year round – seven in the main building and one in an adjacent structure now used as an office.

The Trumans first pitched a similar condo project in 2005, hoping to get out of the family motel business after 53 years. But that plan died on the drawing table when neighbors rose up in opposition, claiming it posed an incontrovertible change to the character of the community.

The Trumans then drew what Scarborough councilors have called "hundreds of people" to Planning Board hearings in 2009 to protest a property exchange. In that deal, the council decommissioned the end of Pine Point Road, known as Depot Street, which ran past the inn, and gave it to the Trumans in return for part of an adjacent parking lot, which later became Snowberry Ocean View Park. The “land-swap” went through thanks to a last-minute vote switch by Councilor Richard Sullivan, who went on to lose his next election.

The Trumans then returned to the condo concept last year, again raising hackles from surrounding residents.

“This project is way too massive for the family area at Pine Point,” read one typical letter, submitted to the Planning Board by Leanne and Donald Murray. “We feel this particular party is putting money and greed ahead of the beautiful area that Pine Point is known for.”

“We’ve been here since 1952,” Nick Truman said at the time. “My brother and I have run the place for 30 years. You’d think the neighborhood would be proud of us, but every time we try and do something down here, it’s like we’re trying to put in a nuclear reactor.”

The Trumans’ new project includes the addition of a third story to the building, which sits on a 3/4-acre lot, to create a series of 1,100-square-foot units. With the addition, the inn would grow to 34.1 feet high, just shy of Scarborough’s 35-foot limit.

According to Town Planner Dan Bacon, the inn is in an R-4 zone, which permits no more than four housing units per acre, half what the Trumans have asked for.

However, because the motel was in place before zoning existed in Scarborough, the Zoning Board of Appeals on Nov. 9 allowed a change from one non-conforming use to another, asking only that any condo sales be approved by federal housing lender Fannie Mae, helping to ensure that units fall under permanent ownership and do not become a so-called “condotel” of revolving occupancy.

That, along with the Trumans’ willingness to knock the project down to eight units from 12 originally proposed and to increase parking spaces to 26, seemed to gain a number of converts to their cause.

“I think that from where we have been on this project over the past several years, we have gone a tremendously long way in terms of the implied use of this space and the architectural renderings of what is going to happen at this property,” said Planning Board Chairman Allan Paul.

Although he voted against the development last fall, in the advisory vote that sent the project to the Zonning Board of Appeals, Paul came full circle for Monday’s vote, which formally accepted the project for subdivision review.

“I think what is being proposed is wonderful, with great curb appeal,” he said.

“Generally, the responsiveness to concerns raised throughout what has been, admittedly, a kind of a long process, has been great,” agreed Planning Board member Cory Fellows. “I personally think the design is great.”

John Wiggins, president of the nine-unit Beach Walk Association, said his group unanimously supports the project.

“We think the design is very good. We think the reduction in the number of units is good,” he said.

But not everyone is on board. Of the dozen residents who attended Monday’s meeting, about half spoke in opposition to the proposal, including Mo Erickson, who previously predicted the site would become home to a revolving “block party.” Despite assurances from the Trumans’ attorney, Gene Libby, that the property is converting to residential use, Erickson remained convinced the units would remain rentals, saying even eight units was “too much.”

Meanwhile, Judy Shirk, who says she’s followed the travails of the property “from Day 1,” continued to bemoan the loss of Depot Street.

“The character of the Pine Point where I was born and raised doesn’t exist today, but it is still a beautiful place to live,” she said.

Libby said the asbestos siding now on the motel will be removed by a licensed contractor. No work would be done over the summer, he said. Instead, the condo conversion is likely to begin in the fall.