ROCKLAND, Maine — A public hearing and possible final vote on a proposed five-story building that has generated debate over its design has been postponed for two weeks.
The hearing on the proposed Starfire Building will now be held Tuesday, Nov. 3, at City Hall. The meeting had been set for Oct. 20 but the change was made at the request of the planning board chairman, who was going to be out of state for the original hearing date.
The planning board listened on Sept. 29 to a more than two-hour presentation on the proposed building, to be built at 12 Winter St. in what is now a parking lot owned by Winter Street LLC at the rear of the Dowling Walsh Gallery on Main Street.
The current design features a lot of reflective glass on the building’s exterior. There are some concerns about whether that would fit with the city’s design standard, which calls for buildings in that zone to be in character with other buildings on Main Street.
The Starfire Building would house retail stores at street level and storage for high-end artwork on the upper levels.