ARUNDEL – Cape Arundel Cottage Preserve is looking to expand by 80 to 100 new seasonal cottages.

The cottage colony, located off Route 1, is open May through December, and is currently approved for 263 residences. Cottages in the preserve range from 866 to 1,350 square feet. According to the company website, prices range from $334,900 to $439,900 or more.

Cape Arundel Cottage Preserve has been built in phases, with construction starting in 2015, and is now in the fifth phase of development, engineer Rick Licht, representing the company, told the Arundel Planning Board earlier this month.

Licht said Phase 6, if approved, would be in the northwesterly portion of the 300-acre site.

“The market is doing well, and we’re looking to the future, once phases 5A and B are done,” said Licht. “This is a very conceptual review for a potential expansion idea.”

He said traffic counts are underway and a traffic study is ongoing.

Traffic – and egress – was one of the concerns expressed by the planning board. Currently there is one road in and out of the preserve, onto Route 1.

While some residents arrive in May and stay through December, others visit more sporadically  – which can contribute to traffic, noted planning board member Tom McGinn.

“There would be a lot of people going in and out on the Fourth of July,” he said as an example, and he wondered if the extra 80 to 100 units would require another entrance.

Licht said he had hoped for preliminary traffic numbers for the presentation but they were not available, and said if traffic were to reach a certain point, a modification of the current entrance would be triggered, which includes a left-hand turning lane, an island, and other improvements.

Another board member asked how close the new cottages would be to the Eastern Trail.

Licht said a 100-foot buffer would be required. He said the area is wooded and untouched, but trail users might be able to see a filtered view of the cottage units.

He said he believes the site has the wastewater capacity for 80 to 100 additional units.

“We know we have more work to do,” Licht said.

Another planning board member asked about recreation. The preserve has a swimming pool, community center and other amenities, and Licht said a second pool is under construction.

Licht pointed out that the potential sixth phase would be located outside the current Tax Increment Financing district boundaries and so would need to be amended.

Lee Jay Feldman of Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission, the contracted planner for Arundel, said Monday the next step would be for the company to gather data prior to an application.

“They’ve got a lot of work to do before they come back,” said Feldman.

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