TOPSHAM

Proposals for a Topsham Fair Mall retail building and a 47-unit residential subdivision go to Planning Board public hearings tonight.

The board will likely vote on the retail plan tonight, while the housing plan could be finalized by early April. Developer Dan Catlin submitted both proposals.

Topsham is reviewing the housing subdivison under its new rules as an “open-space development.” The rules call for a developer to set aside 30 percent of the property as open space.

Catlin said in December the openspace option will allow him to use lots smaller than the minimum 20,000 square feet required of a subdivision in an urban residential zone.

He wants to build 1,450- to 1,850- square-foot homes on 12,000- to 14,000- square-foot lots, with full basements, garages and one or two stories. The single-family homes would range in price from $250,000 to $275,000.

The project would be built in phases on a narrow, wooded, 26.2-acre parcel between Mallett and Park drives.

Catlin said he believes the plan has been well received and could gain preliminary Planning Board approval after tonight’s hearing.

The subdivision, as proposed, would be built in four phases over several years, Catlin said. The first phase would involve construction of 11 lots and the connection with Park Drive.

The project won’t connect a second access road to Mallett Drive until the second phase, he said.

The first phase will include the planting of about 22 “boulevard trees,” Catlin said, and landscape features entering the subdivision from Park Drive.

Town Planner Rich Roedner said staff are asking the applicant to look at salt and storm-water runoff, which are an issue at the Topsham Fair Mall.

The planning office has also asked for an updated traffic plan, and asked the applicant to show how it will meet setback requirements. There also has been discussion about the design of the access road to Park Drive.

“We hope to be back to the Planning Board, if all goes well, sometime in the first part of April for final approval,” and then to get the first phase of the project in the ground immediately, Catlin said. “We have had some considerable interest on the lots.”

Catlin also has submitted a proposed amended site plan for a retail building at 65 Topsham Fair Mall Road, which also goes to a public hearing tonight.

Roedner said the plan involves a retail building approved as part of a planned commercial development in 2010 when Town Fair Tire was built. He said the applicant is coming back to change the size of the building — from 6,000 to 8,000 square feet — which would accommodate three tenants.

Looking at the front of Town Fair Tire, the new building would be located to its right.

Catlin said Monday he is in the final stages of a deal with both a tenant for the 4,000- square-foot space and a tenant for the 2,000-square-foot space, but couldn’t yet say who these tenants are.

He said the remaining 2,000-square-foot space is still available, though he has talked to potential tenants.

Roedner said it is likely the Planning Board will vote on the site plan amendment tonight because the building has already been approved, the site paved and storm water systems put in when Town Fair Tire was built.

As a planned commercial development, Roedner said the two buildings should have some cohesiveness in its design.

“Topsham has really become a regional market, and it’s getting looked at,” sometimes even before the South Portland market, Catlin said. “There’s stuff happening in Topsham, that’s for sure.”

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the municipal building located at 100 Main St.