CAPE ELIZABETH – The Cape Elizabeth Town Council has killed an attempt to bring a miniature golf course to town on Route 77, at the site of the former Jordan’s Lawn and Garden Center, now known as the Cape Co-Op, where six other businesses have opened in the past two weeks.

The property is in the “Business District – A” zone, which allows a variety of commercial uses, including restaurants, retail shops, banks, day care facilities, boat repair and gas stations. However, outdoor recreation is not among the zones permitted uses.

“They shot me right down,” said Carl Dittrich, who asked councilors to consider the zoning change that would have allowed the development. “They didn’t give any real reason other than it’s just not for Cape Elizabeth.”

By a vote of 3-4, the council defeated a proposal to refer the issue to the Planning Board, which would have considered the request, debated the language needed to facilitate the change, and made a referral back to the council.

“My sense is that they [councilors] are unsure if they want the Planning Board to spend time on something they are likely to vote against,” said Town Manager Michael McGovern on Tuesday.

Councilors Frank Governali, Caitlin Jordan and Jamie Wagner voted to make the referral to the Planning Board, while Chairman Jim Walsh and councilors Kathy Ray, David Sherman and Jessica Sullivan voted no.

Walsh on Tuesday called the Co-Op a “really fantastic idea,” but said the miniature golf course seemed “like a bolt on to that concept that didn’t seem to make any sense.”

With no formal proposal other than the request to add a miniature golf course to the list of permitted in the BA zone, and a complaint on hand from one residential abutter objecting to the potential noise that would mean, Walsh said, “We didn’t believe sending this to the Planning Board was a good use of their time.”

However, Walsh did leave the door open, pending submission of a “more well-developed plan.”

“At the moment it didn’t seem like a prudent decision,” he said, “but they only have to convince one of us to change their position.”

According to Dittrich, he had no intention of opening Fun Town on the Cape. “There wouldn’t have been any lights, no giant clowns or windmills,” he said.

Instead, the vision was for a nine-hole “professional putting green” laid out by a local golf course designer using a beach motif. The facility would have been built in a 50-by-50-foot area immediately to the north of the Cape Co-Op building.

According to Cape native Nick Tammaro, who bought the property March 15, the idea was to use the putting green as an attraction to bring people onto the site to support the five businesses leasing space in his building. Tammaro himself took up occupancy of two back buildings for his business, Tammaro Landscaping, which he started in 2002 while still a junior in high school.

“My biggest thing is, I just want to see the property do well,” said Tammaro on Monday, before the council vote. “Most people think of landscapers as hiding out in Gorham in the back of some barn somewhere and they show up to Cape, mow 50 lawns and go away again. We want to be more of a fixture of the community.

“Even though it’s landscaping, we want to invite people to the property,” said Tammaro. “So, almost any idea to bring people in is good.”

And if there’s anyone overflowing with ideas, it’s Dittrich. A sort of serial entrepreneur, he runs a bed-and-breakfast at 500 Ocean House Road, owns an antique store, keeps a hot dog cart at Fort Williams Park and through his Atlantic Cookie Co. manufactures the Shuckie – a scallop-shaped fortune cookie of his own invention – at a facility in Scarborough.

He and Tammaro have known each other for years – Tammaro mows Dittrich’s lawn; Dittrich feeds his leftover Shuckies to Tammaro’s cows. Soon after buying the 2-acre Jordan property, Tammaro was at a Cape coffee shop, the Local Buzz, telling Dittrich about his search for a tenant, when the older man had a brainstorm.

Soon, while Tammaro was hauling 36, 1-ton loads of debris from the site – the accumulation of 40 years of business – Dittrich was cleaning the main building and putting up walls. He moved his own Off-the-Wall antique store into one space and quickly leased out four others.

Pet Positive dog training opened first, followed by Groundwork Farm Greenhouses

a week ago and Something Fishy gifts this past Friday. A fifth business, Flock & Vine, a beer and wine shop run by Jen Flock, a chef at the Purpoodock Club, expects to open May 24 once it gets final clearance from the state. Also, Tammaro has retained longtime Jordan’s employee David Shuman, and so, will continue to offer small engine repair at the site.

“We filled it with no advertising and the best thing is that everybody’s from Cape except for one, and he’s local, too,” said Dittrich.

“I’ve lived here for 30 years and I’ve met so many people from town I never knew before,” said Something’s Fishy owner Sandy Jones, who opened the store as a complement to the one she’s run in Portland’s Old Port for 32 years. The Cape location, she said, will be similar, but with more beach-themed items, to cater to the crowd headed to the nearby parks.

“We’re excited to be here and be part of the really strong farming community in Cape,” said Groundwork Greenhouse owner Luke Donahue. After farming for four years in York County and making the rounds of farmers markets there, Donahue says he’s recently “gravitated to Portland.”

“Then, I heard about the opportunity when the place sold. It happened really fast but I decided to just go for it,” he said. “It took a couple of weeks to clean out the old greenhouse here, and we’ve only been open for a week, but we’ve been really warmly accepted so far. Everyone’s been really positive.”

“We’re all locals,” said Tammaro, who has nine employees. “We’re local businesses serving local people and we all live right here in town.”

That will continue to be the theme while Tammaro and Dittrich search for an alternative to the mini-golf idea rejected by the council.

“We’ve got at least 30 years in us before I get burned out,” said Tammaro, speaking to his desire to keep his new property a vital part of the local commercial landscape.

“Whatever happens, there’ll always be something happening here,” he said.

The sign out front of the Cape Co-Op advertises six businesses that have either opened or moved to the 541 Old Ocean House Road location, formerly home to Jordan’s Lawn and Garden Center, in the past two weeks. 
Staff photo by Duke Harrington.