The Brunswick Planning Board is gearing up to revisit the Wilbur’s Woods housing development next week after the Zoning Board of Appeals sent a portion of the plan back for review.
Tuesday’s public hearing will focus on the architectural compatibility of the housing project, which plans to build 21 below-market-rate homes as well as an 18-unit apartment building on McKeen Street. Neighbors filed a challenge earlier this year, listing 13 arguments against the project. The Zoning Board rejected all the complaints, save one related to the compatibility of the apartment building.
“I look forward to seeing how you can make a case for the 18-unit apartment building to be architecturally compatible smack-dab in the middle of a neighborhood,” said Chris Teel, a Brunswick resident who filed the appeal on behalf of 52 neighbors near the development site.
Teel, who doesn’t live near the project site, said he believes town officials are “hiding behind affordable housing” without considering a stopping point for development in Brunswick. Teel also said stating that the project will produce affordable housing “drowns out” resident pushback on issues like traffic safety, reduced property value and environmental impact concerns.
For now, Teel said, no additional legal action is planned in response to the Zoning Board decision, though he does plan to speak at the public hearing on Tuesday.
Chris Marshall of GreenMars, the development company behind Wilbur’s Woods, sees the project as part of the solution to the housing crisis in Maine. He said that the company wants Wilbur’s Woods to be part of a vibrant community and well-established neighborhood. In realizing this goal, Marshall said, the company has worked closely with residents by hosting its own community meetings early on in the planning process and by considering local input now.
“The residents most recently expressed their concern about the architectural compatibility of the apartment building,” Marshall said. “Although there are several similar buildings in the area, we have dedicated additional resources to demonstrating the design compatibility of the proposed structure. We hope this additional investment demonstrates that we want this to work for both sides: the people who need homes they can afford and the people who already own homes in the neighborhood.”
The architectural compatibility requirement at the center of the public hearing comes from the town’s zoning laws. The rule states that new buildings should match their respective neighborhoods in design, size and mass, and need to also abide by each zoning district’s design standards.
Teel and other residents argued that the apartment building, which would be three stories tall, violates the ordinance because it would “dwarf” neighboring homes, block sunlight and would not fit into the “quiet and quaint” neighborhood.
The public hearing will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, at Brunswick Town Hall. Residents can attend in person or via Zoom. The public can email comments to Land Use Planner Natalie Thomsen at nthomsen@brunswickme.org.
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