Editor:

    I was disappointed to read Ward Peck’s editorial, “A
bold design in Knightville”, in the South Portland-Cape Elizabeth
Sentry of March 16th, 2007. In the editorial, he scolded residents
living in the Knightville Mill Creek neighborhood for being concerned
about a proposed zone change to allow construction of a four-story
condo office building on the Beale St. BBQ/Mr. Bagel parcel on Waterman
Drive. Regrettably, Mr. Peck did not speak to me or, to my knowledge,
anyone else in the Knightville Mill Creek Neighborhood Association to
inquire about our very legitimate concerns.

    At a Planning Board workshop on March 13th, the
developer, Andrew Ingalls, presented the idea of the project on behalf
of the owners, Readhart Inc. They are requesting a change in the zoning
status of the parcel to allow constuction of a four-story office
building. The office condo units would be for sale. Several residents
attended the workshop though public comment is not allowed at a
Planning Board workshop. The opportunity for citizens to speak will
occur at the Planning Board public hearing on April 10th. Comments may
also be emailed or sent to the South Portland Planning Dept.

    The residents’ concerns are not “NIMBY-ism” as Mr.
Peck seems to imply. It is common sense that neighboring stakeholders
should closely examine a proposed zone change anywhere in the city. The
Knightville Mill Creek Neighborhood Association would welcome the
redevelopment of this parcel with a three-story building as is allowed
by the current zoning. In our view, however, four-story redevelopment
belongs in the current Knightville Design District along the retail
spine of the Knightville peninsula along Ocean Street and Cottage Road.
Ideally, the height of the buildings would “step down” toward the water
to the west and the east. Two-story residential homes and multi-family
housing would continue to be the norm on the lettered streets
perpendicular to the business district.

    The parcel in question is unique in being an island
zoned for business surrounded by a residential zone. The new office
condominium building will be bordered by very flat Legere Park on one
side, several two-story homes and multi-family “triple-deckers” behind
it, and a group of three-story residential condominiums on the other
side. In this setting, it makes a real difference whether the building
has the three floors currently allowed or the four floors that would be
allowed by a zone change.

    What is the difference? It is a question of “scale”
and how it will fit with the surrounding buildings. It is a question of
how early in the day the nearby houses will be in deep shadow from a
taller building to the west particularly during the winter months. It
is the visual appeal of how Waterman Drive will look when the
reconfiguration project is completed. It is how the building fits into
the vision of the Knightville Mill Creek Neighborhood Master Plan to
increase residential and commercial density to revitalize the area
while maintaining the look and feel of one of South Portland’s most
historic neighborhoods.

    The Knightville Mill Creek Neighborhood Association
is one of several groups that include dozens of South Portland citizens
and business owners who have volunteered many hours to plan for the
future of Knightville Mill Creek over the last twenty-five years or
more. These groups have been greatly assisted by municipal staff and
have competed for and been awarded several CDBG grants for funding
their activities. Our vision has evolved to include specific
recommendations to guide appropriate redevelopment and growth in the
high-density, mixed-use neighborhood of South Portland’s “downtown.” It
is our goal to foster prosperity for business owners while preserving
the quality of life for residents. It is a delicate balance.

    “Revitalization” is a process that will be years in
the making. We are striving for a downtown that will be a credit to the
city. A copy of the “Knightville Mill Creek Neighborhood Master Plan”
is available in the Planning Department. Whatever the outcome of the
requested proposal, we will continue to be active for the betterment of
our neighborhood and South Portland.

Cordially,

Rommy Brown, Chairperson

The Knightville Mill Creek

Neighborhood Association

_______________________



Editor:

    It is clear from your editorial last week, “A bold
design in Knightville,” that you do not live in that neighborhood and
that you were not thinking very deeply about aesthetics or the fabric
of a community.

    It is true that the north side of Waterman Drive is
blighted by the deserted “Mister Bagel” building and the neglected
parking lot, long owned by one of the developers. However, surrounding
that eyesore are the features that define a healthy village
neighborhood.

    Toward Ocean Street there are the blocks of well
maintained, older, single and multi-family housing that make up
Knightville, where people have chosen to renovate and renew what had
been somewhat dilapidated buildings. To the west are newer condominiums
with decks that take in the “stunning views” you point out. They are
built to a scale that recognizes the surrounding buildings and their
construction has added new residents who value the small community that
offers a pleasant walk to the library, town hall, retail stores and
groceries. Bordering the east side of the potential development is
lovely small Legere Park that is frequented by young families with
youngsters using the play structures, older kids playing basketball and
others enjoying the green spread of lawn. Even the neon “lonely ’BBQ’
sign” is a warming light to those of us who enjoy walking to what is
perhaps the busiest restaurant in Knightville. It’s too bad the
developer doesn’t envision a restaurant on the ground floor of the new
structure.

    The city’s plan to make Waterman “less parkway and
more park-like” is the direction favored by those of us who live in the
neighborhood- in fact the concept, known as the Waterman Drive
Reconfiguration Project, got its start from a Community Development
Block Grant applied for and won by the Knightville Mill Creek
Neighborhood Association. The idea is to connect Thomas Knight Park to
Legere Park, and then to the Greenbelt Walkway while redirecting its
current automobile orientation, toward the creation of a more pleasant,
pedestrian-friendly scale for the area. Narrowing the street, adding
curves, planting trees and creating an esplanade would contribute to
making the neighborhood more attractive, raise property values and
screen the treatment plant.  There is no “strip development” (yet)
on this section of Waterman. To build a monolithic four-story brick
block of an office building in the middle of housing and a small park
would do little to make the neighborhood more livable or attractive.

    The building you describe as “sleek” and “compact”
could only be considered so in the context of an industrial office park
or an urban environment, such as Portland’s Marginal Way, where the AAA
building could be its twin. If the building will face “inward, as if
looking at the rest of its neighbors in the eye,” it will be to stare
them down while stealing the expanse of light and sky to the west. It
is not “a beautiful building, “but a brick block with no interesting
architectural details, no attempt to break up its mass with setbacks or
jogs and not a nod toward the scale of its neighbors. The only reason
the land is currently zoned Village Commercial, rather than Village
Residential, is to acknowledge the never- appealing Mr. Bagel and Beal
Street structures that were put up in the sixties. If you look at the
zoning map that land is an island set in the Village Residential zone.
To change the zoning to allow the extra height would be to detract from
the village residential values of all the neighbors.

    As former South Portland Councilor, Rosemarie De Angelis, has written:

    “In the original plan to create Design Standards in
Knightville, there was specific discussion about the impact of these
standards. Specifically, the intent was that the spine of Knightville
(Ocean St.) have the highest allowance and that the neighborhood fall
out to a lower height from that point (out to Waterman Drive). If four
stories were allowed, this would create a cavern in the middle, where
people live. Additionally, with the recent sale of the Lighting
Collection, it is clear that more requests could come forth for
additional height allowances. The subsequent affect could be
devastating to those living between the two panels of height
(Waterman/Ocean).”

    Finally, there is nothing to indicate that a
three-story structure would be “squatter, less appealing” or “less
valuable.” Threatening to build a less attractive three-story building
(as we have heard, both from the developers and you, if the zone change
is not granted) is not the way to win community support. However, the
developers are not looking to support the community, but to sell
commercial condominiums.  Fine. But in your position of editor,
please don’t tell us that “maximizing the value and visual impact of
the development” is an obligation of the community, the city or the
zoning laws. The developers will build with or without a zone change.
They may make less profit without an extra story, but they began the
project knowing in what zone the property is located. The onus is on
the developer to show why changing the zoning will help the community,
not on the Knightville-Mill Creek Neighborhood Association to show why
changing it would not harm the community.

Nicholas Burnett

South Portland