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November 27, 2006

Filling the Pantry | A recent vote reveals development concerns in Old Orchard Beach

By Chris Churchill
It has risen at the center of town and alongside the beach, a multimillion-dollar gamble that to some represents the overdue emergence of a new-and-improved Old Orchard Beach. But while condos at the new Grand Victorian are selling rapidly, voters recently balked at a second big project proposed by the same developer.

By a 92-vote margin, residents refused to sell a small parcel of town-owned land that developer Tim Swenson needs to build a $50 million hotel. The setback has Swenson, an Old Orchard Beach native, reassessing his plans and considering how to proceed. He says he may reconfigure the development so it can be built without the land. Or he may try to bring it back for a second vote, convinced residents will approve the plan if they better understand it.

At its proposed height of 100 ft., the hotel would be the tallest building in town ˆ— taller than the 82-foot-high Grand Victorian. Swenson says he heard from residents who considered the building a goliath and says he may shrink it. He insists his hotel plans are far from dead. "My goal," he adds, "is to rebuild the Old Orchard Beach downtown, one way or another."

But the question is: How much development are residents willing to accept? Why so many voted against the land sale is an open question, but some in Old Orchard Beach say there's discomfort over the pace and type of change that developers like Swenson, backed by town officials, are pushing. "We haven't even lived with the Grand Victorian," says downtown business owner Ricki Letowt. "And then to put up something bigger, something out of alignment with the rest of the town? I think it's premature."

Keeping change under control
Old Orchard Beach is an unusual town. It has big-city population density in the summer, with a carnival atmosphere and the state's most crowded sidewalks. But come winter, it becomes a notoriously cantankerous small town. Like many such towns, it can be resistant to change. "Nothing has been done here for 25 years, because there's a lot of people who like it the way it is," Swenson says. "Change is difficult. It's not easy to do, especially in Old Orchard Beach."

The Grand Victorian, which opened in October, is a decidedly upscale addition to what has long been a blue-collar vacation spot. There's concern that too many fancy buildings will rob the York County town of what makes it unique. Letowt, owner of summer cottages and the Ricki's Place variety store, says many visitors this summer complained the Grand Victorian had replaced an arcade, the Krazy Klam tavern and other attractions they enjoyed. "Old Orchard Beach is funky," she says. "It's not Kennebunk. It's not Ogunquit."
But there's nearly consensus that downtown needs improving; even opponents of Swenson's development concede some stretches are blighted. And there's long been hope that Old Orchard Beach could become a year-round destination. Visit the town in November, and most stores are shuttered alongside barren sidewalks; crowded summer days are difficult to imagine.

The off-season is too quiet for Town Manager Jim Thomas, an aggressive advocate for development. Noting Swenson's project lost by just a few percentage points, Thomas does not believe the town is rife with anti-building sentiment and thinks Swenson's plan would have won if its benefits were better understood by residents. Thomas insists Old Orchard Beach will continue to change. "We're reinventing ourselves," he says. "We're trying to redevelop or regentrify an area that's in disrepair."

Swenson is busily building the foundation for a new Old Orchard Beach. In addition to the Grand Victorian, where condos typically cost at least $300,000, he's developing a 32-unit subdivision and a small, four-unit building. He's just about bursting with grand visions for the town where his family has lived for 75 years; Swenson, for example, says he'd love to redevelop the downtrodden pier at the town's heart.

His hotel is an unusual project. With 100 rooms and a 450-car parking garage, it would be built over a railroad track and include a tunnel through which trains, including the Amtrak Downeaster, would pass. Swenson worked hard to convince Guilford Rail, an ornery Massachusetts-based railroad, to grant him air rights for the site.

As Thomas and Swenson are happy to point out, the hotel would be a good financial deal for the town. It would increase annual property taxes for the parcel from $27,000 to $500,000. And while developers of the $100 million office and housing project proposed for the nearby Saco Island mill complex ask for a $30 million tax break, Swenson would build his $50 million hotel without town help.

Proponents say rejecting such benefits amounts to lunacy. But numbers alone weren't enough to swing a majority of town voters to Swenson's side, leaving him to regroup and consider how to create a plan that will convince skeptics. "There was a lot of conversation in the community about it, and a lot of folks voted on the issue," says Town Councilor James Long. "The question now is: How does Mr. Swenson feel he wants to proceed?"

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