Kennebunk Savings proposing 70 affordable housing units on Alewive Park Road
KENNEBUNK, Maine — Kennebunk Savings is seeking a contract zone that would allow 70 affordable housing units to be built on land it owns on Alewive Park Road.
Avesta Housing, of Portland, would operate the new development, which would be comprised of two buildings with 35 units each, according to town documents.
The Kennebunk Planning Board gave the proposal a preliminary review during its meeting on June 26. The board got its first peek at the project on May 22.
The proposal calls for the 44-acre parcel at 7 Alewive Park Road to be divided into three lots, including one for the new affordable housing units and another as open space leading to the Eastern Trail. The third lot would be the one on which Kennebunk Savings already has its base of operations.
The property is within the town’s Industrial Zone.
Kennebunk Savings purchased the site in 2014, according to a letter that Project Manager Henry Hess, of Sebago Technics, sent to Town Planner Brittany Howard.
In 2016, the bank renovated the existing building on site – the former home of the William Arthur Stationery Company – and based its main operations there. Approximately 150 employees currently work there.
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In his letter, Hess told Howard that the building and its available parking spaces are sufficient for the immediate and short-term needs of Kennebunk Savings.
“There is no real benefit for Kennebunk Savings to hold onto vacant land areas south of their operations center,” Hess said in his letter.
According to Hess, the bank’s development proposal would generally match surrounding land uses and help fill “critically needed” affordable housing options in an area of town that local planners have targeted for growth.
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The open lot would include an extension to the Eastern Trail that would establish a formal connection to Alfred Road and fill an “on-street gap” in the trail map.
During the recent Planning Board meeting, Kennebunk Savings Senior Executive Vice President Dennis Byrd said there is enough space that Avesta could further develop its lot to accommodate between 20 and 40 more units in the future. No such plans are in place at the moment, however.
Planning Board member Richard Smith spoke of the need for the right number of entrances into the proposed affordable housing lot.
“With that number of units, we really need two entrances,” he said.
Hess replied that he and his clients are open to the idea. He said there will be traffic studies when the proposal goes through a site plan review, which will help determine how many entrances are warranted.
If recommended by the Planning Board and approved for the ballot by the Select Board, the requested contract zone would be in voters’ hands during an upcoming town meeting.
The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the proposal during its meeting at the Kennebunk Town Hall on Monday, July 24, at 7 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kennebunk Savings partners with Avesta Housing for 70-unit development
