OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Residents will vote on June 10 whether to approve a permanent easement agreement between the Harmon Museum and the Saco and Biddeford Savings Institution that would allow access to a parking lot the bank has proposed to build behind the museum.

The Harmon Museum, at 2 Portland Ave., has no parking and is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Saco and Biddeford Savings Institution, located next to the museum, does not have sufficient parking for its staff and customers.

The bank and the museum have proposed an agreement in which the bank would construct and maintain a parking lot on the grounds of the Harmon Museum, behind the museum building. The parking lot would allow space for both the museum and the bank, and would require an easement that would allow museum volunteers and visitors to cross over the bank parking lot to access the new proposed museum parking lot. It would also allow bank employees to use the proposed parking lot on museum property.

Under the proposed agreement, Saco and Biddeford Savings Institution would build a walkway leading to the front of the building, and a handicapped-accessible ramp.

By charter, the town council can only approve a three-year easement. Any longer term would need to go to a public referendum.

The town council voted unanimously Tuesday night to send a referendum question on the issue to voters at a June election.

Old Orchard Beach Historian and Harmon Museum Board of Trustees member Dan Blaney said in earlier discussions about the proposed project that he thought it was “a win-win situation.”

A public hearing on the proposed easement is scheduled for May 20.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.

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