Kittery residents move to stop 900-unit housing project: What petitioners say, what's next

KITTERY, Maine — Hundreds of residents signed a citizen petitioncalling for major zoning ordinance changes in the part of town where a large-scale residential and commercial development project known as Dennett Landing is proposed.

The Dennett Landing proposal calls for 900 housing units on 82 acres, as well as a brewery, daycare center, assisted living facilities, restaurant and retail spaces at 98 Dennett Road and 27 Route 236.

According to Kittery’s town code, the petition could lead to a special town election asking voters whether the town should change the area where the development is proposed back to a business park zone, its former designation.

The zoning change "would stop the project,” Town Manager Kendra Amaral said.

A public hearing with the Town Council and Kittery Planning Board has been set for Wednesday, July 13 at 6 p.m. Kittery’s code states the Town Council can either agree to enact the change the petitioners want or call a special election to let voters decide.

What is the potential impact of Dennett Landing project?

Dennett Landing developers had written in their proposal to the town Planning Board this spring that the project, if approved and if all the proposed housing units are filled, could increase Kittery’s current population of about 10,000 by roughly 20% in coming years with 1,800 to 2,100 new residents.

Charles Denault, a petition organizer, commented, “Kittery can’t handle it.”

A summary for the project proposal included a graph showing the development’s potential impact on Kittery’s population. The town’s population could surpass 12,000 residents as a result of Dennett Landing by 2030, surpassing the town’s population boom of the late 1900s.

Neighboring the proposed Dennett Landing project is Seacoast Residences, a 282-unit, previously approved apartment development currently under construction at 76 Dennett Road.

Why are residents fighting project?

Ethan and Amelia Bensley, a married couple, live on Old Dennett Road, near the proposed development. The Bensleys gathered signatures for the petition for weeks.

“I am for development in Kittery, but it needs to be an improvement, not a detriment,” Ethan Bensley said. “I feel pretty strongly about this. I feel pretty set that this is not a good fit for Kittery, this is not the right plan for the town and that the Town Council either needs to step up and change it or allow the citizenry to do it themselves.”

The undeveloped land at the heart of the zoning debate spans approximately 90 acres on the southbound side of Interstate 95 in between Dennett Road and Route 236. It has been a town-targeted region for development for years.

The petition fighting the project was started by Denault, a former Town Council member who resigned last year after town leaders found he had violated Kittery's charter in a matter related to town personnel.

“The current Mixed-Use-Neighborhood zone purpose is 'to encourage higher density, mixed-use development that provides increased housing opportunities and a desirable setting for business while balancing such increased development with environmentally conscious and ecologically sensitive use of land,'" the petition reads. "Because presently published plans reflect a density and type of development far greater than anyone may have ever envisioned consistent with Kittery’s Comprehensive Plan goal to maintain our historic character, reversion to the decades long plan’s intention of a business park is warranted.”

Bensley, 32, was raised in Kittery. He said residents drove from all over town to their house to sign the petition.

If town voters were to be given a full assessment of the Dennett Landing proposal’s impact on population, traffic, public services and overall quality of life in Kittery, Bensley believes a majority support a change to the old business park zone.

“At this point, I think it needs to go back to the voters, back to the townspeople,” he said.

How many signatures did the petition receive?

Any petition filed with the town is required to have a minimum amount of signatures equaling 10% of town voters in the previous gubernatorial election.

The total number of Kittery voters in the 2018 gubernatorial election was 4,948, according to Town Clerk Karen Estee. That means Denault’s petition required nearly 500 verified town voters.

By Estee’s final count, the petition received 654 signatures — 595 of them verified to push the petition forward toward a public hearing.

Within 30 days of a petition being filed, town code calls for the Town Council to hold a public hearing regarding the contents of the petition.

Unless the Town Council agrees to enact the petition, town code states that a special election on a petition is to be held within 60 days after the public hearing.

The Wednesday, July 13 public hearing on the petition will be held inside Kittery Town Hall and be accessible by Zoom video conference with registration in advance on the town website.

What are the differences between a business park zone and a mixed-use neighborhood zone?

As opposed to the “higher density, mixed-use development” stated in the language of the mixed-use neighborhood zone, the intent of the business park zone is to create a park-like setting for business and residential communities.

Permitted land uses for development in the business park zone include commercial parking lots or parking garages, mass transit stations, schools, museums, hotels and more alongside cluster residential development.

The language of the business park zoning calls for cluster mixed-use development that “must be used on larger tracts of land where offices, retail sales, services, lodging, open space, housing and light manufacturing space are blended with residential and moderate entertainment to foster general business growth and a sense of community.”

“The intent of cluster mixed-use development is to provide a more efficient use of land than might be obtained through segregated development procedures,” the business park zoning language states.

In November 2018, after months of public debate and Martin Road residents gathering signatures in opposition to the proposed rezoning, the business park zone was changed to the mixed-use neighborhood zone by the Town Council.

Change in direction?

Amaral said the petition is in the process of being reviewed by town attorneys. Kittery leaders had previously been pushing forward with possibly requiring affordable housing units, much needed in the area, to be part of the Dennett Landing project.

“Our role is to put in place the things that the residents and the council want," Amaral said. "Up until the beginning of this year, through comprehensive plans and studies and initiatives, we have been directed to move forward efforts and amendments to zoning that support the creation of more housing, the creation of affordable housing, and specifically development for this zone. So now if the community wants something different with that zone, then this is what we’ll work on.”

In March, 98 Dennett Road LLC principal Sheila Grant told the Planning Board the developers are "very open" to the idea of affordable housing within Dennett Landing.

•••

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.