Council Begins Rezoning Process for Five Star Industrial Park

The Solons of Room 114 voted last night to begin the process of changing the zoning in the Five Star Industrial Park to lightweight manufacturing, a move that would effectively douse Pike Industries' hopes for expanding its quarry operations on Spring Street. For its part, Pike didn't go down without a fight:

[Pike Attorney David] Toolan said that if the move
is allowed, his client would dismantle its Main Street plant and undertake the
redevelopment of an existing quarry and business operation there. The $114
million Main Street Gateway project would create more than 1,600 jobs and
provide the city with more than $175,000 a year in new tax revenues, he said. A
concept plan for Main Street Gateway--the existing quarry would become a lake
with a walking path--was presented to the council at its Monday night meeting.
The mixed-use project would feature retail, office, restaurant, housing, hotel
and recreational uses. Councilors referred to the architectural drawings as
"pretty pictures" but irrelevant to the issue at hand.

Ouch, that last sentence has got to hurt.

Anyway, the article does not note if the Westbrook Heights Business Park on Saco Street is folded into this rezoning (the original PPH article on the sitch said it would be), but it does helpfully lay out the next steps for the proposal: A Council review of BruChu's rezoning proposal on February 2, a referral to the Planning Board, and back to the City Council for final approval.

-John C.L. Morgan

Disclosure: My wife is employed by Idexx.