SCARBOROUGH — Site work is not expected to start for at least a month, and construction is at least a year away, but Planning Board members Monday got a glimpse of a proposed retail development on Gallery Boulevard.

Preliminary plans from Needham, Mass.-based Waterstone Retail call for 113,000 square feet of space on property next to the existing Wal-Mart. One building would hold more than 106,000 square feet of space split among four stores; a 4,800-square-foot restaurant and 2,200 square feet of retail space are proposed for two buildings on the edge of the parking lot near Gallery Boulevard.

Nancy St. Clair of Cumberland-based St. Clair Associates made the sketch plan presentation for Waterstone. She said the approved the shopping center would be part of the larger subdivision approved in 2005, which is anchored by Wal-Mart and Lowe’s. That reduces some permit requirements, she said, so work to create suitable soil conditions may begin as early as next month.

The work is expected to take 12 months, though, so construction is at least a year away.

Initial board reaction to sketches showed concern for traffic and pedestrian flow into and through the shopping area. The project is planned along a curved stretch of Gallery Boulevard, and entrances to the development would be opposite the entrances to Lowe’s, with perhaps a road leading to Wal-Mart.

“I look forward to it, I think it is great, but it is important now that we coordinate the traffic flow,” board member Ron Mazer said.

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St. Clair said the main entrance is intended to be closer to the center of the development, with a separate entrance for, but not limited to, trucks closer to the main retail buildings.

Board Chairman Allen Paul was distressed to see few striped crosswalks on the sketch plan of a parking lot with about 540 spaces. The drawing showed three, with only one leading to the main building, but St. Clair assured him areas in front of store entrances would be striped.

Paul also suggested pedestrian access be constructed to Wal-Mart, although he was unaware a fence and retaining wall are on a portion of the boundary.

Stylistically, the project drew praise for conforming to standards governing the subdivision, though Paul noted sections of the main building might potentially violate the standard maximum length of 100 feet of uniformity and would need some kind of break.

St. Clair also assured the board traffic studies on the full development of the area had been made, but would be reviewed before a site plan is submitted.

David Harry can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 110 or dharry@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidHarry8.

Sidebar Elements


A rendering presented to the Scarborough Planning Board depicts how a planned 113,000-square-foot retail project would fit between existing Lowe’s, left, and Wal-Mart stores on Gallery Boulevard. Construction could begin in 2015.


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