Pittsfield planners table motor sales approval

PITTSFIELD – Pittsfield planning board members tabled action on the re-establishment of a car sales and service business Monday night after first checking with the applicant to make sure the delay would not affect him financially.

“No problem,” Ronald Friend said. “It’s going to take two years to get the business up and running anyway.”

Friend and his son, Adam Friend, had applied to the board to re-establish Pittsfield Motor Sales in a complex at the entrance to Manson Park on Lancey Street. The Friend family had operated a dealership at the site since 1922, but moved it to Skowhegan in 1991.

Last month, the Friends sold that dealership to the Hight family, and since both Friends are still employed by Hight, the Pittsfield business will be a part-time venture. Ronald Friend estimated the number of used cars for sale will range between six and 20. Service will also be offered on site.

“I need to sell some cars to pay for repairs to the building,” Friend said. He has estimated that roof repairs to the aging structure could cost $42,000.

Because Friend did not continue to hold a state used car dealer’s permit for the location, any grandfathered status expired, Chairman Fred Raynes said, and he therefore had to reapply to re-establish the business.

Once a permitted use in that area, the town zoning was changed a decade ago when a comprehensive plan and companion zoning regulations were adopted. That changed the uses allowed on Lancey Street, and auto dealerships were no longer permitted.

“Interestingly enough, he could have a grocery store, a department store or even an office building there, and they could all be much more intrusive,” Code Enforcement Officer Steve Seekins said.

At Monday’s public hearing, no one voiced any objections to the business. Abutting neighbor Gary Jordan said he had lived on Lancey Street when the dealership was originally operating and that Pittsfield Motor Sales had always been a good neighbor.

The one glitch in the process was that the planners required written documentation that the business would not affect either the visual aspect or the traffic of the surrounding neighborhood.

The board decided to table final approval until their July meeting to give Friend time to provide the written documentation.

“This is truly just a technicality,” planner Jennifer Siter stated.

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