`Low-key’ shopping center eyed for Hampden

HAMPDEN — A low-key shopping center blending with the character of existing residential buildings may be located on Western Avenue, providing voters approve it on the November referendum.

Hampden Town Council Monday evening referred proposed revisions to the zoning ordinance, which provides for a Village Commercial District, to the Planning Board. That panel must make any required alterations to the ordinance language, and then return it the council within 30 days.

“There’s been concern within the community that there is not enough zoning for business,” Town Manager Marie Baker said Tuesday. Businesses in the designated district would be low-key, she said, whereby hours of operation would be restricted, and noise and traffic kept to a minimum.

The commercial center has been mulled in the town for four years, Baker went on. Results of a study conducted in 1986 by the University of Maine determined a section of Western Avenue (Route 9), extending from Route 1A to St. Matthews Church, to be a suitable location for a shopping area.

The study was done in conjunction with an update of the comprehensive plan, which has not been revised since. Baker expected that a revised version would be completed in about two years.

Formed last year, the Town Center Committee reviewed the recommendations of the study. As a result the committee devised the Village Commercial District.

The Town Center Committee is composed of Planning Board members, town councilors, residents and business people along Western Avenue.

“In this district, which is located in close proximity to existing residential areas, land uses are limited primarily to small service businesses and retail stores primarily serving the town,” reads the proposed revisions to the zoning ordinance.

According to the ordinance, style, appearance, placement of buildings, landscaping, even parking would be regulated by the town to promote consistency with existing buildings and residential uses. The district would be designed to encourage pedestrian circulation and “face to face retail sales.”

Town Planner David Gould said strict guidelines were created to ensure that new buildings are erected in character with residential units in the area. The plan is to avoid standout buildings that resemble cement blocks and those that have metal siding.

He hopes businesses moving into the area will renovate vacant residential housing to meet their needs, and maintain the area’s character, rather than construct new buildings.

A list of requirements for prospective construction in the area includes a pitched roof, exterior siding that is residential in appearance, and limits on the size of windows and doors with glass.

In addition, no exterior parts of a building may be illuminated. No parking will be allowed in the street yards, as that area must be landscaped and seeded.