By Amanda Estes

Staff Writer

    Residents of South Portland’s Knightville Mill Creek
neighborhood were again out in full force to express their opposition
to a four-story condominium office building on Waterman Drive, but in
the end, the city council cleared the way for developer Andrew Ingalls
to construct a 50 foot building.

    At Monday’s council meeting, a 5-2 vote, with Jim
Hughes and Ralph Baxter opposed, amended the city’s zoning ordinance to
add the property at 90-100 Waterman Drive to those in the Knightville
Design District that have a 50-foot height limit and to those in the
Village Commercial (VC) zoning district that do not have a required
minimum front yard setback. The amendment will allow Ingalls to
construct a structure 15 feet taller and 15 feet closer to Waterman
Drive than otherwise allowed. According to Ingalls, a taller, narrower
building will be more attractive and will allow for first floor retail
space and more landscaping and parking options around the exterior.

    Councilors largely had not changed their minds since
the first reading on May 21, with the exception of Ralph Baxter, who
said neither a three-story nor a four-story building was compatible
with the neighborhood.

    A last minute amendment, proposed by planning board
member Rob Schreiber, threatened to hinder the project, as councilors
worried they would be creating a conditional zone.

Planning Director Tex Haeuser’s version of the amendment, drafted at
3:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon, was aimed at “further restrict(ing) any
such construction taking advantage of design district height” by
requiring the building receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design or LEED certification. An independent third party would
determine whether the project meets prerequisites and benchmarks within
several categories under the umbrella of sustainable site development,
water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor
environmental quality. Depending on the number of benchmarks or
“credits” met, the project is awarded Certified, Silver, Gold, or
Platinum certification.

    Before receiving a building permit, the developer
for any “Design District building fronting on Waterman Drive that is
over 45-feet in height,” which Haeuser said only applies to the Ingalls
lot, must prove to the planning director that the project is in the
process of receiving LEED certification. Before receiving an occupancy
permit, the developer must submit a performance guarantee to the city
in the amount of one-half of one percent of the total project cost. If
the building fails to receive LEED certification within one year of the
occupancy issue date, the city will receive the guarantee. In the case
of Ingalls’ project, the guarantee would be between $25,000 and
$30,000, Haeuser said.

    “We would be establishing South Portland within the
state as an energy efficient and progressively environmental
community,” Haeuser said.

    He said it would be the first LEED certified
building in the city and one of few LEED buildings in the state.

    In addition, Haeuser said the amendment would put
more restrictions on the developer by requiring more landscaping, more
environmentally friendly materials and more energy efficiency.

Councilor Jim Hughes said he had a problem with the amendment as
proposed and favored pulling back the height limit to 35 feet rather
than 45 feet. He added that $25,000 didn’t sound like a significant
amount of money.

    Haeuser said reducing the height limit to 35 feet
would require LEED certification for buildings that already exist.

    Linda Boudreau said because Schreiber’s amendment
was so specific to the Ingalls property, the council would be creating
a conditional zone. She expressed concern that “leverage was being used
with LEED certification to get 45 feet.”

    In the event, the VC district expanded, Haeuser said
any new construction would need to meet the new regulations. He said it
was not a conditional zone, but a “regular zone situation pertaining to
one large lot.”

    Speaking as a private citizen, Schreiber said his
amendment did not create a conditional zone because the council could
pass the initial ordinance change without also passing his amendment.

    “My hope is residents can see the value of having a green building in the neighborhood,” Schreiber said.

    Ingalls said the new amendment was confusing. With a
three-story building, he said, there would not be enough revenue to
achieve LEED certification. A four-story building, however, would be
“future oriented” with a reduction in the carbon footprint and the
water use.

    As LEED certification would increase the project by
as much as ten percent of the building cost, however, Ingalls said a
three-story building might bring in more money than the taller
structure.

    Paul Leddy and Peter Houser, the builders behind the
condominium unit project on the site of the former Ocean Street Auto
property, said during public discussion there was no need for the LEED
component as the proposed green design would likely meet or exceed the
gold standards anyway.

    After the LEED amendment failed to garner any
council support, the debate over the value of the extra story
continued. Susan Raye and Rommy Brown, both members of the Knightville
Mill Creek Neighborhood Association, and Knightville resident Susan
Henderson said the council seemed to be focused on the tax revenue that
a four-story building would secure.

    “Financial revenue is not the only kind of revenue the city needs to consider,” said Henderson.

    Brown said the “tax revenue from the fourth floor
pales in comparison” to the funding the neighborhood has received from
community development block grants and the Knightville Mill Creek TIF.

    Councilor Maxine Beecher said she found comments
insinuating the council was dazzled by tax revenues offensive. 

    Mayor Claude Morgan added that he had heard “nary a
squeak” about tax revenues. While the city may gain new sources of tax
revenue, the result is a reduction in state aid, particularly for the
city’s schools, Morgan said.