Haigis Parkway Professional Center looking for approval

June 17, 2008

By Zack Anchors
Staff Writer

The $74 million dollar Haigis Parkway development that is expected to include a Cabela's store has been drawing lots of attention, but on the opposite end of the road connecting the Maine Turnpike to Route One, another development may be on the way. Three Diamonds Realty will soon be presenting to the Scarborough Planning Board for the second time their plans for a 12-lot commercial subdivision that is being called the Haigis Parkway Professional Center. Although the development is planned to include office buildings, Scarborough Assistant Town Planner Dan Bacon said the specific uses of the subdivision’s buildings is not yet being considered by the town.

“Really, what’s proposed right now is just roads and lots,” said Bacon.

“There’s no specific uses proposed for the specific lots. . . . Each lot would have to come in for Planning Board approval once an end-user is identified.”

The town of Scarborough has long been working towards attracting what town literature describes as “high quality” development along the Haigis Parkway.

The recent completion of a project to install utilities along the road along with the town’s establishment of special zoning for the area is intended to draw “office, high-tech and biotech research and development facilities, as well as medical, retail and hospitality facilities,” according to a Web site the town has established to market the area ( HYPERLINK \\\"http://www.scarboroughsprofessionalgateway.com\\\"
www.scarboroughsprofessionalgateway.com). Town officials have expressed confidence that the Gateway to Scarborough project – the development that would include a Cabela’s store – will further attract development along the corridor.

The Haigis Parkway Professional Center development was first presented to the Scarborough Planning Board at a meeting in August of 2005 for a conceptual and sketch plan review. The plans included building a new road that would provide access to a parking lot, several one to three-story office buildings, and an emphasis on pedestrian walkways and accessibility. Bacon said the proposed development was in accordance with the requirements of the Haigis Parkway zoning. Scarborough’s peer review traffic engineer Bill Bray submitted a report on the projected traffic impact of the development.

“The proposed commercial subdivision, with the potential of generating 400 ‘new’ peak hour trips, will dramatically alter traffic flow patterns along the full length of the Haigis Parkway,” Bray wrote, adding that the town should pay close attention to any issues related to traffic flow as the project moves forward.

Among the other issues board members discussed was the presence of wetlands on much of the property.

“It’s kind of a tricky development because there’s a lot of wetlands,” said Bacon. “They’ll have to work the roads around them.”

John Mitchell, a land planner from Mitchell and Associates who is serving as a consultant for Three Diamonds Realty, said much effort had been spent on adapting the project to the nature of the property.

“There’s quite a bit of wetlands on the property but we have gone through extensive design and planning to try and minimize the impact,” Mitchell said.
The Planning Board was scheduled to conduct a preliminary subdivision review of the project at its most recent meeting, but Mitchell said he asked for the item to be tabled because the plans were still being worked on.

Bacon said the applicant was continuing to address issues about the proposed development that town staff had raised. Although Bacon said the item would included on the agenda of the board’s next meeting, Mitchell said it was possible it would be postponed further. Mitchell said approval from the Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection had not yet been received, which would eventually be required for the development to move forward.

The development is proposed to occur on four parcels of land that amount to 78.5 acres of land on both the east and west sides of the Haigis Parkway.

There would be 10 lots developed on the east side of the road and two on the west. Linwood Higgins, of Three Diamonds Realty, is the owner of the property. Higgins recently settled a lawsuit with the town of Scarborough over the recent reassessment of property along the Haigis Parkway.