The Windham Planning Board narrowly approved an amended application for a Dollar General store in an East Windham field along Route 302 Monday night. Construction is set to start in the fall with completion early next year.

On June 8, the board informally rejected the discount merchandise store’s application, following concerns that the proposed building design would spread North Windham-style development south along the artery.

Dollar General’s contracted engineering firm, Scarborough-based Northeast Civil Solutions, subsequently submitted a new design featuring a pitched roof and a set of “faux” windows meant to comply with the town’s building design standards, which require New England-style architecture.

On Monday, the board voted 3-2 to approve the 9,100-square-foot store. John Eddy, Keith Elder, and Vice Chairman Jim Hanscom voted in favor, while Chairman David Douglass and Margaret Pinchbeck voted against.

“It looks like a barn with windows in it,” Hanscom said. “I think it’s better than it was. There’s a Dollar General going in right now in Buxton and this doesn’t look anything like that.”

Douglass could not be reached for comment. Pinchbeck said she voted against the application because of her concerns about safety, not design.

“I wanted them to put in a left-turn lane on (Route) 302,” Pinchbeck said. “They put a lot of effort into it. Compared with their first design, it was a lot better.”

According to Troy McDonald, a Northeast Civil Solutions executive vice president, construction is set to begin in the fall, and the store will open either in the winter or next spring, depending on weather conditions.

McDonald said Dollar General does its best to comply with ordinances and foster positive perceptions among local residents.

“Our client wants to be a good neighbor and fit into the community and we feel the concessions made allow our client to be viewed in that light,” McDonald said. “They make the necessary concessions based on the ordinance requirements per municipality.”

Linda Griffin, who is married to Hanscom and is the president of the Windham Historical Society, said she was not satisfied with either the amended design or the Planning Board vote. Griffin, who characterized the original big box-style design as “ugly” and Alamo-like at the June 8 meeting, said the dollar store should also feature cupolas, dormers, porches and flowers. She also said the building will not match the nearby buildings since it does not sufficiently resemble New England-style architecture.

“They just built a store in the Buxton-Hollis area and that’s pretty bad, so ours in Windham is going to look a little bit better,” she said. “The design is better than it was, but it still could be improved. I’m disappointed, I guess, that we didn’t have more Planning Board support.”

On Monday night, the Planning Board also required Dollar General to put “faux” windows on three sides of the building and replace the windows’ shutters with reflective “spandrel” panels to make the windows look more realistic, according to Windham Planner Amanda Lessard.

Griffin said she appreciated those gestures toward New England-style architecture.

“They did add some fake windows on the side, so that’s a little bit better than that blank wall and they did take out the closed shutters on the front,” she said. “To have the shutters closed – people don’t do that in Maine.”

The Dollar General store will be constructed on a 1.72-acre property formerly occupied by a gas station during the 1960s and a water park in the 1990s, located at 361 Roosevelt Trail, near Windham Automotive and south of the rotary that meets Route 202. John and Vicki Mann own the property.

The design of the new Dollar General store that will open on Route 302 in Windham either this winter or next spring. The Windham Planning Board narrowly approved the application for the store Monday.Image courtesy of Northeast Civil Solutions