Kittery extends moratorium blocking Dennett Landing development. Here's what is next.

Ian Lenahan, Portsmouth Herald
·2 min read
People listen to public comments being made during a special Town Council and Planning Board hearing on Dennett Landing — a 900-unit housing project proposal — in the Kittery Community Center Wednesday, July 13, 2022. The Council ultimately blocked the project as proposed.
People listen to public comments being made during a special Town Council and Planning Board hearing on Dennett Landing — a 900-unit housing project proposal — in the Kittery Community Center Wednesday, July 13, 2022. The Council ultimately blocked the project as proposed.

KITTERY, Maine — The town is extending a pause on development in the area where a proposed 900-unit residential and commercial development was halted this summer following a citizen-led effort to amend zoning rules.

The Kittery Town Council voted Monday night to unanimously approve continuing the moratorium on development in the former mixed-use neighborhood zone, where the 82-acre Dennett Landing project was proposed earlier this year. The vote adds another six months to the moratorium, beginning in early February.

Dennett Landing, which proposed the construction of a brewery, daycare center, assisted living facilities, restaurant and retail spaces and more at 98 Dennett Road and 27 Route 236, never advanced past the sketch plan phase with the town Planning Board.

The citizens petition created and filed by former Town Council member Charles Denault called for the council to strike down the mixed-use neighborhood zone and reinstate the area’s previous zoning designation, the business park zone.

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After a marathon public joint meeting of the Town Council and Kittery Planning Board in July, councilors agreed to do just that, effectively preventing the Dennett Landing development proposal from moving forward. The Town Council then agreed to take a look at redefining the zoning code for the area of where the development would have been located, enacting the initial 180-day moratorium.

After the extension, the moratorium is now scheduled to end Aug. 7, 2023.

“We are still in the process of looking at that,” said Town Council chairperson Judy Spiller.

Chairperson Judy Spiller listens to public comment during a special Town Council and Planning Board hearing on Dennett Landing — a 900-unit housing project proposal — in the Kittery Community Center Wednesday, July 13, 2022. The Council ultimately blocked the project as proposed.
Chairperson Judy Spiller listens to public comment during a special Town Council and Planning Board hearing on Dennett Landing — a 900-unit housing project proposal — in the Kittery Community Center Wednesday, July 13, 2022. The Council ultimately blocked the project as proposed.

A group has been assembled to conduct a watershed study in the area of Route 236 and Dennett Road. A public input session on the matter is occurring this Thursday, Dec. 15 at 6 p.m. inside the council chambers at Town Hall.

“It’s going to be a while before all of this comes together so it seems appropriate to extend the moratorium,” Spiller said.

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Project leaders had estimated the Dennett Landing development could bring 1,800 to 2,100 new residents to the town of about 10,000. At the special meeting in July, residents turned out in droves to speak out against Dennett Landing and its possible impact on the town tax base, the Kittery school system and police department, and the town’s natural environment and traffic flow.

Throughout the entire moratorium, neither the Planning Board nor the town’s Board of Appeals have accepted any applications or issued any permits for the area designated as the mixed-use neighborhood.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kittery ME extends moratorium blocking Dennett Landing development