The Town of Gorham’s Capital Improvement Projects / Economic Development Committee held its monthly meeting on May 21 at the Gorham Municipal Center with all three members present. One member of the public attended the meeting, which focused in large part on discussion of the current 10-year Capital Plan approach for the Gorham school system.
Superintendent Heather Perry gave an overview of the discussion item, noting that all the project categories are either previously requested but unfunded needs or recommendations from prior facility studies. Gorham Schools facilities director Norm Justice briefed the committee on the first round of planned projects and explained current thinking on project prioritization. A consensus was reached regarding the necessity to prioritize capital projects that are problematic to defer, as well as the importance of ongoing Town/School coordination to sequence projects into manageable categories.
The Gorham Planning Board convened for its monthly meeting on June 1 with all members in attendance.
The board’s first agenda item was a final review and public hearing on subdivision and site plans for phases 1 and 2 of Gorham Fairways South, a mixed-use development on ~170 acres at the former Gorham Country Club on the south side of McLellan Road, zoned Contract Zone and South Gorham Crossroads (SGXR). The board approved the phase 1 and 2 final site plan with conditions (7 Ayes); approved the phase 1 and 2 final subdivision plan with conditions (6 Ayes, 1 Opposed [Benson]); and approved the phase 1 and 2 private way plan with conditions (7 Ayes).
Item 2 on the agenda was a review and public hearing on a site plan amendment to allow for construction of a 577-foot access drive at the Village School to connect the front and rear of the parcel and provide improvements to parking at the ball fields, zoned Urban Residential (UR). The site plan amendment was approved (7 Ayes).
The board also conducted a sketch site plan review and discussion of a proposal by Perennial Gorham Solar, LLC to construct a 0.99 MW solar array on 10 acres of land within the westerly portion of the Martin-Place farm on Fort Hill Road, zoned Rural (R). No action was taken at the meeting.
The Ordinance Committee met on June 8 with all three members present. Several members of the public were in attendance.
Among the agenda items was consideration of requiring vehicle idling standards. The Committee voted to recommend to the Town Council that no action be taken on adopting an idling ordinance at this time (3 Yeas).
Implementation of an ordinance to enact rent stabilization of mobile home parks of 100-plus units; updates to buffering requirements for industrial businesses; updates to sidewalk standards; updates to Gorham’s Solid Waste Flow Ordinance; and amendments to the Land Use and Development Code to restrict large-scale data centers were also discussed, although action on these items was deferred pending additional information gathering and discussion.