GORHAM — A developer’s latest plan for a 119-lot housing development on 103 acres off South Street has neighbors concerned.
Chase Custom Homes of Windham is seeking approval for project, Sawyer Estates, which was first proposed in 2003 and revamped in 2019. The latest plan was unrolled this week.
“When this is built out, it will have a sizable population,” Planning Board Chairman George Fox said Monday.
The subdivision’s interior roads will intersect with South Street, Crestwood Drive and Waterhouse Road.
Resident Allyson Lowell of Crestwood Drive said she was concerned about traffic, lighting and wildlife.
“We have many young children on Crestwood Drive,” Lowell told the Planning Board. “It does have significant impact on quality of life on neighboring streets.”
Lowell took those concerns to the Town Council Tuesday. Speaking on behalf of several other neighbors, she said, additional concerns include the project’s impact on wells, overburdening on schools and exclusion of neighbors from using open space in the development.
Lowell called on the Town Council to take action on an impact study.
Town Councilor Benjamin Hartwell said Tuesday the development qualifies for high density housing under town provisions for projects served by public water and sewer. Under a prescribed formula, the developer will pay $975,000 into a town fund that Hartwell said will be available to save open space elsewhere in town.
Andrew Morrell of BH2M Engineers in Gorham, representing the developer, told the Planning Board that a sewer design that has been resolved had been a “major hurdle.”
Details about the sizes of the homes will come later, Morrell said.
“This is the beginning of the permitting process,” he said.
Planning Board review, likely to take months, was scheduled to continue on Feb. 1 but the board moved it to 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 11. Stormwater and traffic will be among the topics discussed then.
In other action, the Planning Board approved two solar farm projects and tabled another.
An 18-acre solar project proposed by Gorham Solar 1 at 135 Brackett Road was approved. The developer agreed to erect a slatted chain link fence around the site, which is owned by Gene Bibber and borders the Gorham Country Club golf course. Trees and shrubs will also be planted as buffers.
The board also gave Gorham Savings Bank the go-ahead for a 3.5-acre solar farm at its property at 10 Wentworth Drive. The bank will own the project.
A 35-acre solar farm proposed by Gorham ME1 at 17 Nonesuch Road in South Gorham was tabled pending submission of more information. Anne and William Kozloff own the property.
An abutter of the proposed project, Steve Quimby of 166 Burnham Road, aired his concerns about impact on a nearby stream and
property values “going down the tube.”
“I have a multitude of concerns,” Quimby said.
The Planning Board will conduct a virtual site walk.
It appears construction has begun for a Fort Hill Road solar farm approved last year on a hayfield.
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