| Joanne Cole |
The Planning Board welcomed A-Z Water Systems to town, after approving with conditions the company’s application for a commercial water treatment sales and service operation at 1156 Lewiston Road. The location is an 8.15-acre parcel–currently meadow–not far from the Auburn line, Map 10 Lot 44-B, in the Residential C zoning district. The land was previously owned by David Sawyer.
At the June 7 meeting, A-Z Water Systems was proposing a two-story structure with a 4200 s.f. footprint, garage bays, 16 parking spaces out front and an access road around to the back. The company specializes in filtration systems, and employees will head out in vans and small trucks on service calls; few customers will be coming in.
As he introduced the application and A-Z’s plans, engineer and project manager Jim Seymour of Sebago Technics said A-Z will use the first floor for its offices and the second floor may be rental office space. That prompted board members and Town Planner Natalie Thomsen to reach for their binders to check the implications of its being a multi-use rather than single-use property. Might it now need more acreage, frontage or parking?
Parking, yes, member Steve Libby concluded. The number of spaces required under the zoning ordinance is tied to gross square footage. With the second floor included, five more spaces were needed. Could A-Z count the spaces inside the garage toward the 21 needed? No. Park in front of the garage doors, perhaps? The solution was striping additional spaces behind the building.
The building was described as resembling a Colonial, with a brick base and wood composite siding. Board members wanted to see elevation drawings with the building’s appearance, dimensions and roofline, but plans weren’t at hand. Owner Carl Levesque obliged by pulling up the plan on his phone and walking it to each board member down the line. Vice Chair Erik Hargreaves liked what he saw: “It looks a lot better than a metal-sided shed.”
After agreeing to dispense with a site visit and public hearing, the board moved through its review checklists. The extent of new impervious surface made A-Z’s stormwater runoff plans a focus, and the project still needs fire protection review and is awaiting a permit from MDOT for the driveway entrance at Route 100, they noted. In addition, A-Z will come back for further review if the rental plan comes to pass. With that and other conditions noted, the application was approved. “Welcome to town,” board members said, “Glad to have you in.”
Video of the Planning Board’s June 7 meeting can be viewed at this link. For the meeting agenda, application, and other documents, click here.
