KINGFIELD — Planning Board members listened Tuesday night to protesters who hope to convince them to deny the Dollar General discount store a building permit.
Board Chairman Clay Tranten advised attendees who filled Webster Hall to keep their comments civil during the public hearing.
“Everyone will be addressed with politeness and respect or you will be asked to leave,” he said.
Although most of the residents at the meeting protested the arrival of the chain store, they were reminded that the board and the code enforcement officer are bound by law to follow town ordinances that define building limits and zoning laws.
“I know there will be a lot of questions,” said Troy McDonald, executive vice president of Northeast Civil Solutions. His company designs Dollar General site locations.
Bob Gage, senior vice president of development services for GBT Realty Corp. in Brentwood, Tenn., said his company builds and owns the stores and leases them to Dollar General.
“We want to make this as pretty as you want it to be,” Gage said. “We’re trying to make this as environmentally conscious as we can.”
The store would be on Route 27 north of the village.
Attorney Paul Mills of Farmington spoke on behalf of 36 clients protesting approval of the building application.
“It looks like your (Maine Department of Transportation) permit hasn’t been received yet,” Mills told developers.
Developers said they plan to meet every legal requirement.
Gage said they were following Kingfield ordinances.
“If you guys want to keep people like me out of your town, you need to change your ordinances,” he said. “If it’s in the ordinance, it’s the law.”
Audience members asked the Planning Board to “slow down” the review process. Some of residents’ concerns included more noise and traffic.
The town has 126 historic properties, and this would be the first “cookie-cutter” type of establishment built in town, according to Cynthia Orcutt, a Kingfield resident and business owner.
A Dollar General store will negatively affect the historic village character and property values in the town, Orcutt suggested.
She suggested the Planning Board also require more information about the impact on public services, including fire protection and policing. She suggested that the Dollar General’s standard flat roof would not be in keeping with the character and harmony of the town.
Mills questioned whether the board had adequately determined whether noise, odor, lighting and traffic would create problems.
Susan McLaughlin, owner of One Stanley Avenue restaurant, said the brief traffic study done during an offseason afternoon did not reflect the extremely heavy seasonal ski traffic through town.
Business owner Lisa Standish suggested several local businesses wouldn’t be able to compete with the the discount store, and that could lead to a loss of jobs and other problems.
“Kingfield does not want you,” she said.
Comments are no longer available on this story