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WESTBROOK – Studies commissioned by both Pike Industries and

Westbrook Works, the group of businesses opposed to Pike’s quarry

expansion, have, not surprisingly, come to different

conclusions.

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Both studies looked at the future tax impact of rezoning the Five

Star Industrial Park, a central issue in the ongoing battle between

Westbrook Works and Pike Industries.

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A public hearing on the rezoning was scheduled to be held in front

of the city’s Planning Board Tuesday, but has been postponed to

Oct. 20.

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Both studies considered how the rezoning would affect property tax

revenue generated by new businesses coming to the city. Westbrook

Works’ report shows the city would benefit from the rezoning,

because it would attract more high-tech businesses to the park.

Pike’s study, however, concludes that rejecting the new zone and

allowing Pike to expand would more greatly benefit taxpayers,

because Pike would then redevelop its site on Main Street.

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Westbrook Works, which counts Idexx Laboratories among its members,

was formed after Pike came forward with an expansion plan for its

Spring Street quarry. Idexx was also planning an expansion of its

nearby facilities, but has indicated it would not pursue those

plans if Pike expands its operations. The veterinary products and

services company contended that Pike’s heavy industrial activities

are incompatible with its use and the expansion of the quarry would

be inconsistent with a vision of bringing in more biotech business

that city presented to Idexx when it first moved to Westbrook.

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Since then, the groups have fought in front of city boards and

through advertising campaigns to further their respective causes.

For Pike, that’s the ability to add an asphalt plant to its Spring

Street quarry. For Westbrook Works, the ultimate goal is to see all

Pike’s activity on Spring Street cease.

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The dispute is currently being taken up in court, where Pike is

trying to overturn a decision from Westbrook’s Zoning Board of

Appeals, which ruled that the company never had the proper city

approvals to quarry on Spring Street – something that’s been going

on for the past 40 years.

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Meanwhile, the city is moving forward with an effort to rezone Five

Industrial Park and surrounding land, including Pike’s property,

from industrial to light manufacturing. That change alone would

kill Pike’s expansion plans. However, according to City Planner

Molly Just, the company would be able to continue to extract rock

from its quarry there.

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The Oct. 20 public hearing will be the first opportunity for

Westbrook residents to weigh in on the proposed light manufacturing

zone, the details of which the Planning Board developed during the

past several months.

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Pike and Westbrook Works each has a core group of citizen

supporters, but their respective economic studies could sway the

remaining residents who are still on the fence – or just simply

confused – about the issue.

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Westbrook Work’s study, conducted by PolicyOne Research of

Scarborough, compares the property and excise taxes generated by

Pike to those of other businesses in the park. The study says Pike

pays $1,024 per acre in property taxes and $252 per acre in excise

taxes, while other businesses in the area of the proposed rezoning

pay, on average, $8,293 per acre in property taxes and $652 per

acre in excise taxes.

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The study also compares the potential annual property taxes

realized in a build-out of the Five Star Industrial Park’s

remaining 45 undeveloped acres. If the industrial zoning remains,

and businesses similar to the ones already there move in, the study

says, the property would net about $370,000 in taxes per year. If

the zone is changed to light manufacturing, attracting more

high-tech businesses, the city would receive about $507,000 in

annual property taxes, according to the report.

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In Pike’s study, done by Planning Decisions of South Portland,

another factor is taken into consideration – the redevelopment

potential of Pike’s Main Street site into a mixed-use downtown

gateway. If Pike cannot have an asphalt plant on Spring Street, it

would continue to operate its plant on Main Street. However, if it

can move those operations to Spring Street, the company says it

would redevelop the Main Street site, which Planning Decision’s

chief economist Charles Lawton said “arguably could be called the

most valuable piece of property in the state.”

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The Pike study plays out three different scenarios, comparing the

potential tax revenue realized during a 20-year period in each. The

first scenario considers if the zone were changed to light

manufacturing and the park filled up with biotech businesses. The

study concludes that in 20 years, those businesses would generate

$5.8 million in property taxes.

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In the second scenario, the study looks at what would happen if

Pike could expand its Spring Street operations and redevelop its

Main Street site, while the park filled up with more businesses

similar to the ones that are there. That situation would yield $9.1

million in 20 years of property taxes, the study says.

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The third scenario considers that biotech companies might still

move into the park, even if Pike is allowed to expand. With a mix

of those high-tech companies and industrial ones moving into the

park, the expansion of the Spring Street quarry and the

redevelopment of the Main Street quarry, the city would see $9.3

million in tax revenue after 20 years, the study says.

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The second and third scenarios depend on the successful

redevelopment of the Main Street site, which would account for

about $6 million of the tax revenue predicted. But the

redevelopment of that site won’t be possible at all with a zone

change.

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“It’s the opportunity cost that’s important,” Lawton said.

Pike Industries won’t be able to add an asphalt plant, like this one at its Poland quarry, to its operations on Spring Street in Westbrook if the city rezones the land to light manufacturing. Both Pike and Westbrook Works, a group opposed to Pike’s expansion, commissioned studies showing the economic impact rezoning the land could have on the city. (File photo)