Oak Hill housing plan raises traffic concerns

SCARBOROUGH — More than a dozen residents, including one town councilor, rose at the Jan. 30 meeting of the Scarborough Planning Board to decry an 81-unit senior housing complex, which they say will overcrowd an Oak Hill intersection that’s dangerous enough as it is.

Wegman Companies, a 35-year-old firm based in Rochester, N.Y., operates 14 assisted-living homes in its homes state and Ohio. It plans to move into Maine with a 59,000-square-foot facility the company wants to build on 8.5 acres on Black Point Road, with a main entrance just 300 feet from the intersection with Route 1.

“This is not an appropriate location for a project of this stature,” said resident John Phelps. “I can’t walk from my house to Hannaford’s as it is without major troubles.”

“I’ve lived on that road for 17 years,” said Phelps’ Black Point Road neighbor, Lisa Ronco. “I’ve watched the traffic level grow, if not double than triple. For me and my neighbors, it can take as anywhere from five to 10 minutes just to get out of our driveways.”

“I absolutely support the idea of assisted living,” said Councilor Carol Rancourt. “But this is going to put a huge strain on an already overloaded road.”

After the public had its say, Planning Board member Ronald Mazer chimed in, with a lecture in NIMBYism – the phenomenon of people declaring “Not In My Back Yard” to new development projects.

He agreed with Rancourt, saying there are already “amazing problems” at Oak Hill, where Route 1 and Black Point Road meet. He, too, felt Wegman should have bought more of the lot that wraps around the corner Citgo gas station, so that it could us Route 1 and its primary drive, he said. However, Mazer faulted those who stood in the way of progress.

“Sometimes, I get the impression that people don’t want anything to happen in Scarborough,” he said. “Well, I’ve got news for you, we have to bring in new business to bring the tax rate at a somewhat normal level, whatever normal means.”

“Unfortunately, I feel there are parts of Black Point Road that can be developed,” said Mazer.

Meanwhile, traffic engineer Tom Gorrell, of Gray-based Gorrell Palmer Consulting, tried to sooth fears. Wegmen intends to give up part of its property to build both a sidewalk along its Black Point Road frontage and an extra turning lane at the Oak Hill light.

“From a queuing standpoint, that will more than mitigate the project’s impact,” said Gorrell.

Even so, the senior housing project appears to be the best possible choice for the site, said Gorrell. Citing traffic patterns at similar sites run by Wegman, Gorrell predicted the Scarborough facility would generate no more than 14 “trip ends” per a.m. peak hour of activity, and no more than 18 in the evening. During the times of heaviest congestion at the Oak Hill intersection – between 7-9 a.m. and 3-6 p.m. – the Wegman complex would contribute no more than “one care every 10 minutes” to the mix, said Gorrell.

The next step for the project is Scarborough’s Zoning Board of Appeals. Of the 81 units proposed, 46 will be studio space, 15 would be one-bedroom units with limited, stoveless kitchen facilities (costing residents $3,500 per month), while 20 are planned as “dementia units” costing $5,000 per month.

Because the dementia unit falls under the definition of an actual nursing home, Assistant Town Planner Jay Chace said the project must obtain a “special exception” to qualify under rules for the transitional zone in which the project site sits.

If the project passes muster with the appeals board, Chance said, it will return to the Planning Board for additional review and a public hearing. 

It’s a safe bet the naysayers will be tracking the proposals progress.

“I would think long and hard about adding one more [special] exception, and then one more and one more and one more,” said resident Becky Beyers. “Because, you know what? You’re going to run out of woods.”