By a unanimous vote, members of the Windham Town Council have authorized changing the zoning for the Northeastern Motel property at 322 Roosevelt Trail in Windham from a Farming zone to a contract zone for Dwelling, Multi-Family during a meeting on Tuesday night.
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| The Windham Town Council has changed the zoning of the Northeastern Motel at 322 Roosevelt Trail in Windham, allowing for the motel owners to convert motel rooms into efficiency apartments if the Windham Planning Board approves the project. PHOTO BY ED PIERCE |
The 3.8-acre motel site is located on Route 302 and the northwest corner of Nash Road in Windham and the owners of the property, 322 Roosevelt Trail LLC, say to achieve their vision for the property zoning changes will need to be made.
Under current “Farming” zoning requirements, multifamily dwellings are only allowed for the conversion of an existing dwelling or accessory building that was in existence prior to May 13, 1986, and no more than three dwelling units may be created per lot.
The zoning change will allow the property owners to create up to 23 dwelling units on the property, which differs from the two dwellings currently allowed there by “Farming” zoning.
The nine-unit Northeastern Motel with an attached owner’s unit building existed prior to Windham’s adoption of zoning ordinances on July 8, 1976. Back on Nov. 5, 1987, the Town of Windham’s Board of Appeals granted permission to expand the non-conforming use of the then-“Suburban Pines Motel” to double in its size and add a 13-unit adjacent building that was constructed on the property in 1988. Windham’s Planning Board subsequently approved a subdivision of the property into five lots on April 23, 1990, and over the past 33 years the site has been further reduced to its current 3.8-acre configuration.
This zoning change request coming before the Windham Town Council is the second time that a contract zone has been requested for this property, but this time the Windham Planning Board approved this project and forwarded it on to the town councilors recommending the zoning change.
In 2016, the previous property owner requested a contract zone to permit Motels and Multifamily Dwellings and to increase permitted density there. On July 12, 2016, a vote by the Windham Town Council failed to send the application back to the Planning Board for review and recommendation.
Shawn M. Frank, project engineer and Senior Vice President, Commercial and Development for Sebago Technics, representing the Northeastern Motel owners, told the council last September that the applicant proposes that the entire motel property be rezoned as an overlay to the underlying Windham Farm District zone.
He said that no easements are proposed and restrictions on the property will limit the overall unit count as it currently exists. The motel owners, who purchased the site in 2017, have proposed an expansion in square footage to the existing Northeastern Motel room units to provide individual kitchen facilities to create efficiency-type dwelling apartment units. The proposed improvements and renovation by the owners also include removal of the existing boulders along the parking lot perimeter.
The project will now head back to the Planning Board for final approval of the owners’ plan to convert the existing motel rooms into affordable one-bedroom apartments.
New efficiencies at the renovated site are expected to rent for about $1,000 and are designed for stable individuals and couples, Frank said. <
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