150-year-old home may be demolished

Gorham’s downtown is poised to lose a historic house to make way for parking approved by Gorham planners on Monday.

But the town is taking steps to save another landmark it owns in the South Street Historic District.

The Gorham Planning Board approved a plan sought by Reali Realty to expand parking at Amato’s Sandwich Shop. The plan includes approval to demolish an adjacent house, 21 Main St., which the business has a contract to buy from the town. But, before razing the building, the business is required to give Gorham a 90-day notice allowing an opportunity for the house to be moved.

“I hope someone will come forward,” Bruce Roullard, the Town Council vice chairman, said Tuesday, speaking as a resident. “I’m very disappointed we might lose a historic home downtown” to gain nine parking spaces.

Roullard, also chairman of the town’s Historic Preservation Committee, said Tuesday the house, about 150 years old, is a former tailor shop. He said a lot of people are upset about a plan to tear it down.

Roullard said that the Historic Preservation Committee is working with the Greater Portland Council of Governments to develop a proposed ordinance to help preserve historic Gorham buildings.

Roullard said his committee would meet in August and could present a proposed ordinance to the Town Council in October. An ordinance could offer owners of historic buildings incentives for preservation and relax some building codes to ease rehabs.

The committee is focusing on properties in the town’s historic district on South Street.

“We don’t want anything too restrictive,” Roullard said.

The University of Southern Maine, which has several historic buildings on its Gorham campus, would not be subject to a local ordinance.

With an eye on providing additional parking downtown, the town bought 21 Main St. and its .11-acre lot in 2012 for $169,900, but municipal plans to expand parking didn’t materialize. So, it agreed to sell the building to Amato’s for $155,000.

In April, the Town Council agreed to extend a sales agreement that had expired on March 31 to July 31, giving Reali Realty time for Planning Board approval. Councilors Sherrie Benner and Roullard opposed the measure that allowed demolition or moving the house.

“It was disappointing that we could not convince the council to save the building to maintain the historic character of the village,” Benner said Tuesday.

At the Planning Board meeting Monday, Marla Stelk, of 61 Johnson Road, who also serves on the town’s Historic Preservation Committee, pointed out the town is losing $15,000 on the sale besides lost tax revenue.

“It’s been a bad deal from the beginning,” Stelk said. “It’s a bad financial decision by the town.”

Kyle Bailey, of 114 Johnson Road, a School Committee member, said demolishing a historic home for a few parking spaces doesn’t speak to the direction wanted by citizens.

“It doesn’t seem like the right decision for us to make,” Bailey said.

State Rep. Andrew McLean, D-Gorham, said in an email Wednesday that he has heard from Gorham residents.

“Some have expressed disappointment that 21 Main St. has remained vacant for years on end. Many thought it would be a prime location for a business. Many other residents have expressed concern about the aesthetic of downtown and how a parking lot right on Main Street does not fit in with the village appeal and is contrary to the master plan for our downtown of which a draft came out just last month,” McLean wrote.

But now the July 31 closing date looms. Town Planner Tom Poirier said Tuesday parking approval was granted but the board is requiring an agreed-upon revised plan be submitted.

“We’re ready to close,” Jeff Reali of Reali Realty told planners Monday.

While a piece of history is being stripped from the heart of the downtown, the town is taking steps to preserve the so-called McLellan/Sampson house it owns at 77 South St. in the South Street Historic District. The town wants to split off a small parcel for the house from the town campus, which includes Gorham Municipal Center, Baxter Memorial Library and high school.

A zone change for the McLellan/Sampson house could pave the way for the town to sell it. The house is now in the urban residential zone. The town is seeking Planning Board approval to establish a zone for the house to allow a variety of uses that could include residential or professional offices.

The McLellan/Sampson House, built in 1803, in recent years has been leased to the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust and once served as the office for the town’s school superintendent. The building now needs extensive repairs.

The requested zone contains historic preservation standards and the Planning Board sent the matter to its Ordinance Committee for review.

“We’re just looking to protect this one house so far,” Edward Zelmanow, Planning Board chairman, said in Monday’s discussion.

In other non-related action, the Gorham Planning Board after a lengthy discussion about a garage sought by developer Susan Duchaine of Design Dwellings Inc. at its headquarters, 166 Narragansett St., tabled the matter.

A major issue appeared to be what constitutes open space and where it’s located on her 1.4-acre lot. The property is in the Narragansett Development District. The open space requirement is 30 percent of the lot size and the Planning Board is requiring Duchaine to provide a plan pinpointing location of that open space.

The board wants the town’s code office to provide an explanation of open space.

In the zone, the town is prohibiting outside storage of materials and from parking dump trucks and other equipment outside the garage she’s requesting. The restrictions have also been an issue with Duchaine.

Town lawyer Natalie Burns attended the meeting.

Duchaine’s request marks the second time the matter has been submitted to the Planning Board for review. Her latest request was discussed in a Planning Board meeting on April 6, followed by a site walk on April 30.

“I have been 10 months getting a garage approved,” she wrote in a note handed to the American Journal before her request was tabled at a late hour Monday.

Gorham planners Monday approved a plan to expand parking at Amato’s Sandwich Shop with permission to demolish this historic house at 21 Main St. that the town has agreed to sell. File photo