Town attracting businesses

The town’s Narragansett Trail corridor is in line for business-boosting shots in the arm.

Brown Iron Works, Patriots Holdings and JD Variety all plan projects on Narragansett Trail (Route 202). The three entities were on the Planning Board agenda Monday.

Stan Brown of Old Orchard Beach is seeking permission to construct a 40-foot by 80-foot commercial building to house his welding and custom fabrication business on a 9.2-acre site.

After the meeting, Brown said he’ll be ready to break ground as soon as he acquires a permit.

Bill Thompson of BH2M engineers in Gorham represented Brown.

The board is scheduled for an 8 a.m. site walk on Saturday. A public hearing on the project could likely happen March 22.

Brown now has a mobile business and wants to expand. He told planners Monday he plans to hire 10 workers. His hours of operation will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. five days a week and 7 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.

His fabrication work includes furniture, automotive and wrought iron projects.

In other action, the board set March 22 as a public hearing on Patriot Holdings’ proposal for a self-storage business on 10.77 acres at 488 Narragansett Trail.

H.A. Mapes Inc. got the green light 5-0 for site and traffic flow improvements at JD Variety, 796 Narragansett Trail, on 3.5 acres. The company’s representative, Jason Vafiades of Atlantic Resource Consultants in Freeport, Monday the company plans to construct a new store there next year.