The application includes a request to reduce the town’s requirement for a 50-foot landscaped perimeter buffer to 20 feet.
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The developer behind a 22-unit residential development proposal in Kennebunk says it could help with the town’s housing crunch while also providing density needed for more cost-effective construction, in turn allowing for more competitive pricing on the units.
The planning board considered a sketch plan presented by Katherine Lermond of Archetype Architects on behalf of DWTS LLC, the owner of 22, 24, 26 and 28 Water St.
In general, the board approved of the site’s proximity to the downtown area and of the design aesthetics.
One board member wanted to know if any of the buildings were going to be built for the short-term rental market.
Lermond said she’d look into it.
“If this is being built as housing stock for people to live in as residents of the town, I’d like to make this work,” the board member said. “If it’s to enrich the pockets of somebody who’s going to buy it and rent it as a short-term rental, I ain’t interested.”
A project cost estimate was not available.
‘Small-town look’
The proposed project would combine four lots that contain single-family homes, which would be demolished. The four lots would total 1.43 acres.
The proposal is to build three structures comprising 22 units, consisting of 20 townhouses and two apartments. One structure would be set along Water Street and two toward the rear of the site. Also included are 47 parking spaces, all to the rear of the front building. Sixteen units would have garages with one parking space in the garage and one in individual driveways.
Townhouses allow the design to have a “small-town look and feel,” according to the presentation.
The site is less than a block from the downtown village center and already has public service infrastructure.
The scale of the proposal is in context with the street, which is home to another large multifamily structure across the street and larger commercial and public buildings at both ends, said Lermond.
Project density would help bring down construction costs, she added. The structure along Water Street would screen parking to the rear.
“You see front yards and front doors, not cars parked out front,” she said.
Buffer reduction request
The application includes a request to reduce the town’s requirement for a 50-foot landscaped perimeter buffer to 20 feet.
The request was based on multiple factors, said Lermond. The town’s requirement of 2.25 cars per unit means parking must be provided under and behind the front building in order to maintain the front yard streetscape.
“We are unable to do so with a 50-foot buffer as it would push the buildings so close together that we would push parking to the sides to allow for an adequate drive lane,” she said.
Additionally, a 20-foot buffer would allow the project to leave most of the site’s existing wetland intact, create a courtyard space and allow the front building to line up with other Water Street buildings, she said.
The board said it would schedule a site walk and wanted additional information, such as impact statements related to the environment, soil and aesthetics.
