YORK, Maine — Residents living in the vicinity of a proposed 120-unit housing development in York Village raised a litany of concerns to the Planning Board recently, suggesting overall that it is going to change the character and traffic patterns of the village and Raydon Road significantly.
But a study completed by Maine Traffic Resources suggests traffic generated from the subdivision will not create significantly more problems than already exist on York Street and Raydon Road. The town’s contract engineers for the project concurred with the study’s results.
At issue is a proposed development on more than 100 acres of land owned by the Mary McIntire Davis Trust, to include single-family homes and condominiums. The trust is comprised of family members of the late Mary Davis. The land would be developed in stages over six or seven years, with a section closest to York Street built first.
A second section to the rear of the property would be developed later on, connected to the first via a roundabout. As planned, there would be two exits out of the property — one onto York Street and one onto Raydon Road.
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Neighbors expressed a number of concerns with the proposal, but many of the comments came down to the fact the development is going to change the character of the village.
“What does your gut tell you?” said attorney Greg Orso, representing York Street residents Dick and Betsy Goodwin. “Will there be more or less traffic on York Street? Does your gut tell you this is a good thing or a bad thing? This project is fundamentally changing the village.”
Moreover, he said, such a dense development so close to the historic village center “doesn’t meet the criteria of the comprehensive plan. This is really a test case for whether we take the comp plan seriously.”
“This huge project. Man, this really dumps everything upside down,” said York Street resident Bill Massidda. “The whole thing doesn’t fit in. You’re going to change the whole town.”
The centerpiece of the evening was Maine Traffic Resources study. Company president Diane Morabito presented her findings to the board, which are based on Institute of Transportation Engineers trip analyses for a single-family development with 120 units.
She said family units generate 10 trips a day; those with elderly residents generate six trips a day. Some 40 of the 120 units are reserved for those over 55.
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Based on that, she projected peak morning and evening trips in and out of the development using either Raydon Road or York Street. During morning peak hours, 48 one-way trips will be generated; in evening peak hours, there will be 59 one-way trips. So two working parents in two separate cars would generate four trips total going to and from work. The remaining six trips might be generated by a teenager driving to and from school, for instance, or from evening engagements.
Tom Greer of Walsh Engineering said these numbers are allowable under the town’s subdivision ordinance.
Her study also found there would be significant delays for people living in the development and attempting to leave via York Street or Route 1 and Raydon Road. But it would not affect through traffic on either road. And the Davis Trust has agreed to install a right-turn only lane on Route 1 to mitigate wait times.
Senior Engineer Randy Dunton of Gorrill Palmer, the town’s contract engineer for this project, concurred with Morabito’s analysis, as did Dean Lessard, the town’s public works director.
“You’re looking at the two premiere traffic engineers in the state with Randy and Diane,” he said. “From what I can see they used the best tools available and applied them correctly. Everything I’ve seen in the study I believe is accurate.”
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Planning Board member Lew Stowe said he was concerned a lot of people were going to use Raydon during peak hours to avoid waiting on York Street, which would create a problem on Route 1. “I’m seeing Raydon is going to be a problem,” he said.
Several Raydon Road residents said the traffic is already bad because the road is used as a cut-through. Lessard, when asked by board members, said there were no plans to widen the road or add sidewalks. He said the road isn’t wide enough to accommodate a bike lane, either.
Several Planning Board members also asked Greer if the Davis family would consider setting aside a portion of the units as workforce housing. Land use technician Heather Ross said, in York, the median income for a family of four is $91,000, which would support the purchase of a $313,000 house.
Workforce housing is “a priority in the comp plan. Some small number of units in the $360,000 range level is something that the town would appreciate,” said chair Al Cotton. Greer said he would talk to the family but made “no promises.”
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