KENNEBUNK — A 10-unit duplex condominium site may be coming to what is now a hayfield on Thompson Road in West Kennebunk.
At the Sept. 28 Kennebunk Planning Board meeting, Michael Tadema-Wielandt, vice president of the civil engineering and land surveying company Terradyn Consultants, presented a sketch plan on behalf of land owner James Howard. The board set up a site walk for Saturday, Oct. 10, at 9 a.m.
The site is located about 1,500 feet north of the Middle School of the Kennebunks and about 1,500 feet south of the Alewive Road intersection on the east side of Thompson Road.
The land owner currently uses the cleared, 27-acre area as a hayfield. Howard’s plan is to split the parcel in two and develop 12 acres into a multi-family development comprising 20 units. The intention is to offer the three-bedroom condo units, to be used as rentals, at market rate.
Howard will retain the remaining 15 acres to hay and will build a house there, according to his application.
One duplex building will be close to Thompson Road, while the remaining nine duplexes will be situated in the upland portion of the 12-acre lot. One point of access, a road of approximately 850 linear feet, will terminate in a cul-de-sac.
The board’s first suggestion was to include robust landscaping around the nine duplexes so that they don’t look like “lollipops sitting on top of a hill,” said board member Robert Metcalf.
A stream that runs through the hayfield is a tributary of Ward Brook, which ultimately flows into the Kennebunk River. To cross the stream, Tadema-Wielandt said he plans to install a “concrete box” structure wider than the waterway itself. Although the structure has not yet been designed, the goal is to include a natural, gravel-covered bottom that would allow organisms to move through it, the engineer said.
The proposed subdivision would be served by public water and multiple individual wastewater disposal systems.
The board mentioned concerns about cumulative traffic in the West Kennebunk area. A different developer proposed a 54-unit housing project on Thompson Road during the same planning board meeting. “That’s 74 units,” Metcalf said.
Board Chair Chris MacClinchy asked town staff to check on the timing of traffic study for the area. Howard’s site is part of the West Kennebunk Village Residential district, a designated growth area.
