A developer hopes to divide a 2.4-acre property just outside downtown Belfast into eight lots for single and multi-family housing.
The property at 243 High St. already has two buildings on it, and the project could eventually bring 13 more units to the site, according to a preliminary overview of the project presented to the city’s planning board on Wednesday.
The project would be located about halfway between downtown and Route 1, near the intersection with Pierce Street. It is still in the initial development stages and will need to undergo additional review by the planning board.
Carl Savitz, of Big Bridge Ventures LLC, said his goal for the project would be to help address the need for housing in Belfast. Like many parts of Maine and the country, the midcoast suffers from a lack of housing that has helped drive up the costs for rentals and properties that do exist.
“The plan that I’ve landed on, I feel like, is a good combination of creating some density, creating some houses, for the development in the area,” Savitz said at the planning board meeting. “It’s pretty straightforward … The two existing buildings will be split off on their own lot and will continue to be used as their current use, I expect.”
The two buildings appear to include multiple units, at least some of which are occupied by small businesses including a massage therapist, a chiropractor and a midwifery organization.
The purpose of Wednesday’s meeting was to give the planning board and members of the public an early opportunity to weigh in on the project before Savitz prepares specific designs. No vote was taken on the project.
Planning board members and other attendees raised a few questions about it, including how it would affect drainage at the site and traffic on the steep incline of nearby Pierce Street, as well as how tenants of the current buildings would be affected.
“What happens to our parking spaces with this project going forward?” said Arline Rauch, a massage therapist who rents space there.
Dan Klimek questioned where the housing would be developed on the site, given it’s on a hill and has limited space.
In his application materials, Savitz said his goal is to reconfigure parking on the property, add an internal street through it and keep about a half-acre of green space on it.
