Gorham planners will hear public comment next week on a major building project Sebago Brewing Co. is proposing for the eastern gateway to Gorham, near the Westbrook city line.

The brewery, now located in Gorham Industrial Park, is asking the town for permission to build a 24,360-square-foot facility. The company has said it has outgrown its headquarters and a town approval for the project would keep the brewery, which has hunted for a new site, headquartered in Gorham.

“It’s gratifying that a company places their faith in us,” Tom Ellsworth, Gorham economic development director, said Tuesday.

The project is being proposed at 630 Main St., on a 4.45-acre, undeveloped wood lot that is in the industrial zoning district. The lot is part of a large tract, known as the Ross Grant, that Shaw Brothers Family Foundation bought earlier this year from ecomaine. The proposed Sebago Brewing lot is across Main Street (Route 25, a busy commuter arterial) from Nappi Distributors.

The public and planners will hear all about it next week. Sebago Brewing’s proposed project is on the Planning Board agenda for 7 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 1, at Gorham Municipal Center, 75 South St.

Sebago Brewing Co. was founded by Kai Adams, Brad Monarch and Tim Haines. The company has brewpubs in Gorham, Kennebunk, Portland and Scarborough.

The proposed project in Gorham, according to Planning Department information, would house Sebago Brewing’s corporate headquarters, a restaurant, tasting room and tap house, offices, brewery and warehouse space. The company has been in Gorham Industrial Park for about a decade.

The public hearing kicks off Gorham’s review process by the Planning Board. Tom Poirier, Gorham’s planner, said Tuesday the project requires approval by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and also possibly approval by the Maine Department of Transportation in a traffic review.

A green light to build could be just months away. There are no “red flags,” Poirier said.

Construction could get under way this fall.

“They want to be in by July or August,” Ellsworth said.

The project’s agent is Andrew Morrell, a civil engineer at BH2M in Gorham.

The building, designed by architect Mike Hays of Grant Hays Associates, Inc. in Falmouth is two stories and would be served by public water and sewer, gas, and underground electricity, telephone and cable.

The parking plan calls for 128 spaces and the paved area for the project would cover 75,000 square feet.

The nonprofit Shaw Brothers Fanily Foundation, established by Jon and Danny Shaw of Shaw Brothers Construction Inc. in Gorham, would lease the lot to Sebago Brewing. According to a letter from Jon Shaw and filed in the Gorham planning office, terms of the lease would be for 25 years with three, 25-year extensions.

Earlier this month,  Monarch addressed town councilors about the project.

“We’re excited to build this destination brewery in Gorham,” Monarch said.

Town Councilor Sherrie Benner  described it as a “showcase” project.

Ellsworth said this week the proposal would add 20-30 more employees at Sebago Brewing headquarters and would bolster the town’s tax base.

On July 5, the Town Council unanimously backed preliminary support for granting Sebago Brewing a Tax Increment and Financing District, known as a TIF. Minutes for the agenda item said the board’s approval was “based on a 15-year term and approximately 50 percent of the captured revenue returned to the developer” to support building the project.

But specific details of a TIF for Sebago Brewing were not available this week.

“I think those are in the early stages of being worked out, so currently there aren’t any,” Town Manager David Cole said Tuesday.

Adams and Haines did not respond to requests for comment by the American Journal’s deadline Wednesday.

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