Bath Iron Works has withdrawn a pair of requests to rezone a section of Bath’s South End neighborhood after pushback from neighbors who want to know more about what the shipyard is planning.

One of the properties on Washington Street with the parcel named in Bath Iron Works’ application for zoning map amendment. Paul Bagnall/The Times Record

BIW was looking to amend zoning for parts of the South End neighborhood because the company’s office building at 580 Washington St. is outdated and requires significant upgrades. The land parcels included in the rezoning request were 580 Washington St., 606 Washington St., 10 Bath St., 607 Middle St., 601 Middle St., 595 Middle St. and 589 Middle St.

The shipyard asked to change the “SupShip” block, west of the main shipyard on land bounded by Bath, Washington, Russell and Middle streets, to a business park district for future development. BIW has been acquiring real estate in the neighborhood along Washington Street as well as residential properties on Wesley, Bath and Middle streets since early 2023, according to city records.

An email to the Bath Planning Board from Brian Salter, BIW’s principal engineer, describes a broad vision of an office campus with green space, but details are scant.

Neighbors have pushed back against the zoning request, concerned about the lack of information about the project. BIW withdrew the requests prior to an Aug. 6 Planning Board meeting. Shipyard officials declined to go into detail about what the project might entail. A shipyard spokesperson said BIW officials would be meeting with South End residents to discuss the future of the effort.

According to Salter, although no design plan for any structures has been finalized, they are currently conceptually based on optimizing parking to the east of the area to alleviate traffic issues. Despite this, residents in the South End are concerned that BIW could build an office building taller than the surrounding homes, contributing to noise and more traffic.

Bath residents Michael and Juanita Wilson stated in a July 31 letter to the Planning Board that the neighborhood is an intricate thread to the Bath community and expressed concern about how a significant structure might change the area. The Wilsons acknowledge in the letter that the plans are conceptual and unformed.

Changing the current high-density residential and mixed residential/commercial zones to a business park could allow for a minimum lot area of 20,000 square feet, 60% maximum lot coverage and a maximum building height of 75 feet, according to Bath land use codes.

The Wilsons expressed concern that a possible 75-foot-tall building would block residents’ access to sunlight. Some homes in the neighborhood have been owned for many generations, and the surrounding blocks are no more than 40 feet in height.

“The residents have no desire to have C3 or even C2 come to Middle Street,” said Bath resident Dick Hill, who is part of the group of neighbors concerned about the rezoning.

About 21 concerned residents spoke at the July 2 Planning Board meeting. They asked applicants Salter and Jon Fitzgerald of SERE, LLC, to provide further information about the project with multiple concerns, citing the height of the building, property values of the residential buildings and alterations to the character of the neighborhood.

“We will communicate with [neighbors] and our employees in greater detail as part of this process in the coming months,” BIW said in a statement after withdrawing the rezoning requests. “At this time, we continue to have conversations with neighbors and the city as we identify the best way to gather input on the vision for this property.”