Dollar General would like to be next door to the new Belgrade Town Office.
A hearing on an application from Bohler Engineering proposing a Dollar General retail development there is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Town Office.
The 1-acre site at 1002 Augusta Road, also known as Route 27, is between the Town Office and the U.S. Post Office in Belgrade.
Dollar General, through Bohler Engineering of Southborough, Massachusetts, proposes to build a 9,318-square-foot retail store.
Plans indicate that an abandoned, 1,000-square-foot, single-story stucco building is on the site now.
Valencia Schubert, president of the Belgrade Lakes Region Business Group, a nonprofit organization promoting the local business community, advised members via email about the Planning Board session.
“The board has not taken any position on the proposed project as yet,” Schubert said Monday. “Personally, I think it feels a little crowded there.”
The property was sold in December 2015 by Gene Burgess Sr. and Catherine Burgess to Lisciotti Development Corp., of Massachusetts, and a driveway/entrance permit for retail space at that location already has been issued by the Maine Department of Transportation.
The building proposal itself requires some waivers from requirements.
Thursday’s hearing before the Planning Board is set particularly to refer the project to the town’s Board of Zoning Appeals so those waivers could be considered before the Planning Board does a site plan review under the Commercial Development Review Ordinance.
The property is zoned for commercial development.
The project initially was presented by Jessie Johnson, of Bohler Engineering, at an April 21, 2016, Planning Board meeting. The minutes of that meeting, posted on the town’s website, indicate that George Seel, one of the board members, indicated “that this project has the most requests for waivers that the Planning Board has ever had.”
According to the Commercial Development Review Application on file with the town, the developers seek some variances and/or waivers from the town’s Minimum Lot Size Ordinance to fit the proposal on the existing lot.
For instance, the proposal calls for the parking lot to accommodate 30 vehicles rather than the 37 spaces that the size of the building normally would need.
“Thirty spaces off-street parking meets the project’s needs based on the proposed tenant’s extensive experience with their operational requirements for similar facilities in the vicinity,” according to the application.
The application, by Matthew Bombaci and Austin Turner, of Bohler Engineering, says the building proposal calls for 7,300 square feet of retail sales area, which would require 30 spaces.
It also indicates it would need variances for slopes and some setbacks.
Dollar General Corp. first entered Maine two years ago and has locations in the area, at 7 Pullen Drive, just off Kennedy Memorial Drive in Oakland; and 1905 Hallowell Road, Litchfield.
In February, the Augusta Planning Board approved an application for a Dollar General store to be erected at 296 Eastern Ave. On Monday, site work was underway.
According to its website, Dollar General has more than 12,500 stores in 43 states.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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