By Ward Peck

Editor

    One of a handful of businesses along Cape
Elizabeth’s scenic coastline, the Inn by the Sea on Route 77,
constructed on a promontory overlooking Crescent Beach State park
offers visitors bedroom views otherwise reserved for a small clique of
Maine’s luckiest– and wealthiest– residents. To accommodate demand for
rooms and meeting and party space, the Inn is proposing an expansion of
its main building, replacing a tennis court with a parking area and
reconfiguring the entrance.

    The Cape Elizabeth Planning Board is expected to
hold a public hearing on the plan, described as in the design phase by
Mike Zimmerman of Olympia Development, on July 17. Zimmerman said the
inn plans to close in the fall to begin the renovations.

    The new addition will expand the north wing of the
main building and will replace an existing trellised rose garden. The
addition and other proposed renovations would add 15 rooms to the
current 43 available on the property. The tennis courts, visible from
Route 77 on the South side of the property, were described as underused
during a recent tour of the site and will be removed to make room for
most of the additional 11 parking spaces planned. The plan calls for a
traffic island to be constructed at the property entrance to segregate
incoming traffic from outgoing traffic. Other minor changes include
expanding the main lobby and deck on the back of the main building and
increasing the floor space on the second floor as well as expanding the
portico on the front of the building to allow two cars to load or
unload out of the elements.

    Architect Richard Lo said the inn, which markets
itself as an environmentally friendly facility and earned commendations
as a “green” lodging experience, “will endeavor to incorporate as much
green design as possible.”

    “There are features we want to enhance and some we want to introduce,” Lo said.

    Zimmerman said environmentally friendly features
might include the types of materials used and air conditioning and
lighting systems.

    According to Town Planner Maureen O’Meara, the plan
conforms to the zoning ordinance but pressed the design team about the
town’s desire to see the facility connect to the public sewer system
rather than rely on the existing septic system. The Portland Water
district is currently installing a new waterline along the portion of
Route 77 abutting the property and once the project is complete, will
abandon the old line. O’Meara said the project could use the old line
to connect to the town sewer system.

    Zimmerman said moving the facility off of the septic
system and onto public sewer would add more than $300,000 to the
project, which he described as cost prohibitive.

    Asked why the environmentally friendly facility
would resist connecting to the sewer system, Zimmerman asked, “Why is
septic less green?” He said connecting to the sewer system would
require a pump that consumes electricity and would increase the load on
the town system. He said the inn is being environmentally responsible
by managing its own waste.

    But O’Meara said connecting to the sewer system
“would be more green.” She said the town has questions about the inn’s
ability to handle the extra capacity and noted the inn has had issues
with handling its wastewater in the past. O’Meara said there are
concerns about the current quality of the treated water that is
discharged into wetlands between the inn and the Ocean.