BIDDEFORD — State officials are hoping to break ground on the York Judicial Center next month.
That is the word from the state Administrative Office of the Courts, following an affirmative second and final vote on July 7 by Biddeford City Council, approving a contract zone for the new court building, to be constructed on Elm Street. The vote was 7 to 2, with Councilors Robert Quattrone and Doris Ortiz dissenting.
The Planning Board had voted its approval on May 20.
Director of Court Communications for the Maine Judicial Branch Amy Quinlan said initial bids for the project were sought in April and May, but as of late last week, had not yet been signed.
“We hope to break ground in mid-August after we receive the building permit,” said Quinlan in an email. “The expected completion date is Feb. 1, 2023.”
A contract zone was required to build the structure at 511-515 Elm St., on property formerly owned by the city, because at 68.5 feet, it exceeds the 35-foot maximum height allowed in the zone. The city sold the property to the Maine Governmental Facility Authority in 2017 for $810,000.
The Planning Board found the project for the 120,000-square-foot building, which has a 34,545-square-foot footprint, to be consistent with the comprehensive plan and agreed it would not negatively impact existing or permitted uses within the original zone.
The new building consolidates and replaces the three Maine district courts, in Biddeford, Springvale and York, and the York County Superior Court, which sits in the county-owned courthouse in Alfred. The consolidation is aimed at creating efficiencies in Maine’s court system.
The county-owned court building in Alfred, which contains several county departments, among them the county Registries of Probate and Deeds, and the York County Probate Court, will remain open.
City councilors had considered Councilor Amy Clearwater’s motion to amend the measure that would have seen the parking lot moved 15 feet from its current planned location, to preserve a tree buffer. That effort failed, with Councilors William Emhiser, Stephen St. Cyr, Michael Ready, Marc Lessard and Council President John McCurry dissenting.
“This seemingly simple request to move a parking lot 15 feet closer to the building has many ramifications in the contemporary design of a courthouse,” said project manager Philip Johnson. He noted 50 feet is recognized as the minimum amount of space between building and parking lot to deal with any security issues that may develop. He acknowledged that some of the existing court buildings, like the Biddeford District Court, don’t have as much space.
“With the political situation today, it’s different than it was 20, 40 or 50 years ago,” he said.
Councilor Ready noted the trees in question would only be removed if they were deemed hazardous.
“I feel we have to follow the safety issue,” said Councilor Lessard.
Clearwater suggested there were other ways to provide security safeguards, but in the end, her motion was defeated.
In 2016, the Maine Legislature passed a bill sponsored by former Sen. Linda Valentino, D-Saco that budgeted $65 million for a new court house in York County. Later that year, a court site selection commission chose the Elm Street site as the location for the new courthouse from an original slate of 27 possibilities.
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