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Melissa Bolduc of Bangor always believed she’d pass on her Lancaster Avenue house, which first belonged to her grandparents, to her children one day.
But the new Maine Woods housing development that abuts her property has changed the neighborhood and shattered that plan, Bolduc said.
Bolduc was one of several neighbors who years ago pushed back against the 60-unit subdivision and filed a court appeal against the city and Emily Ellis, the developer, to stop construction. But the project was later approved again and constructed.
The last unit in the Maine Woods housing development sold earlier this month, marking a milestone for the project.
“We couldn’t build them fast enough to keep up with demand,” said Ellis, who’s also a local real estate agent. “It was exactly what people wanted and needed, and it was really well-received.”
The achievement came the same month Ellis received preliminary approval from the Bangor Planning Board to build 13 townhouse-style duplex buildings on outer Broadway. Each of the 26 rental units are slated to have two bedrooms and one bathroom.
With dozens of new units under her belt, Ellis is one of the only developers bringing larger-scale housing projects to Bangor at a time when the city and state face a daunting shortage of units. But it has come at a cost. The Maine Woods became one of the city’s most controversial developments during the application and construction phases, over concerns that neighbors say have come true in the years since.
“It’s exactly what we thought it would be,” Bolduc said. “It’s overcrowded, the traffic has increased in the area and it’s unsafe because people speed around the neighborhood.”
The Maine Woods sits on about 12 acres between East Broadway, Essex Street, Lancaster Avenue and Interstate 95, with two entrances on Lancaster Avenue and East Broadway. It holds 30 two-story duplexes, each with three bedrooms, two or three bathrooms, and two parking spaces.
Opponents feared the development would worsen traffic, erase habitats for wildlife and exacerbate issues the surrounding community has experienced for years, such as lackluster water pressure and poor stormwater drainage.
Advocates for the project, however, pointed to the lack of available and adequate housing in the city and the difficulty they’ve had in finding a place to settle, raise their family and contribute to the community.
Ellis is aware some neighbors are still unhappy about the project, but credited their displeasure to being resistant to change and not wanting to lose access to the land that they did not own but had used “for their own enjoyment.”
“When it’s your backyard that you don’t want to change, I can understand why they were up in arms,” Ellis said. “The only way to allay their fears was to build it so they could see.”
Bolduc said she isn’t against having new neighbors or growth, and isn’t upset with the people who moved into the development. Her concerns are over how many homes were built on the land and how they were constructed.
For example, the area often floods during periods of heavy rain and that hasn’t improved since the development was created. Bolduc fears the soil under and around the homes will erode over time.
Ellis recalled frequent rain storms during 2024, and one area off Firefly Lane flooded during a heavy rain event, but the existing retention pond in the development has never flooded, she said.
“We’ve had storms where we got 3 inches of rain, so there’s going to be standing water because there’s only so much that the ground can absorb at one time,” Ellis said. “As far as I know, everything is functioning the way it should be.”
Sandy McIntosh, who lives on East Broadway, said the retention pond created in the development has caused problems, and the construction and new residents near her home have brought unwelcome noise.
“The mosquitoes are so bad in the summertime that we can’t go outdoors,” McIntosh said. “I haven’t had quiet in three years. I’m living in hell now because of it.”
The neighborhood sits on ledge, Bolduc said, which needed to be blasted to build a stable, sustainable home. During the building process, however, Bolduc said she watched trucks deposit dirt on the site, which the homes appeared to then be built on.
Ellis recalled neighbors feared blasting would happen frequently throughout construction, but said crews did not hit ledge. The homes are built on a frost wall, meaning the buildings sit on 5 feet of concrete with a poured concrete floor, according to Ellis.
“I called and emailed the city requesting that they come and walk with me, look at Maine Woods and discuss the concerns that we have,” Bolduc said. “No one responded to me.”
Bangor planning staff and Bolduc exchanged emails in late 2023, according to city spokesperson David Warren.
Warren has also fielded concerns from neighbors about loud construction noises and vehicles speeding through the area, he said.
Neighbors also believed crews would plant more trees and shrubbery to act as barriers between the new development and the existing neighborhood after construction finished, but those never arrived, Bolduc said.
The development plans included new walking trails around the duplexes, but Ellis didn’t make them because, “honestly, no one walks on walking trails,” she said.
“It sounds good and looks good on paper, but people walk in the street,” Ellis said.
Ellis applied for site plan approval for the housing development in June 2022 and the Bangor Planning Board approved it in September 2022. The following month, neighbors asked for a judicial review of the decision.
In October 2023, the Penobscot County Superior Court bounced the decision back to the city’s planning board with instructions on how to review the proposal, as it ruled the city misclassified the size of the project and did not explicitly outline its reasons for approving the permit.
This forced Ellis to resubmit the same development application for reconsideration, which planning board members approved in January 2024. The development’s first resident — a veteran who won the home — moved in the following month.
Some units, most of which are owner-occupied, have sold again since they were created in 2024. Sale prices for the townhouses ranged from $265,000 to $275,000, Ellis said. Another hit the market on March 23 with an asking price of $289,000.
While some neighbors are still upset about the development, many people who moved into the townhouses in the last year reported no concerns with their new homes.
Colleen Ford, who works as a teacher, said moving into one of the Maine Woods duplexes last June was a welcome relief after living in a larger house in the country.
Ford said she needed to downsize to a home that “suits my needs” and is close to stores, restaurants and other resources. She also appreciates that the unit doesn’t need much maintenance because it’s new, and plowing and lawn care are done for her.
Around the corner, Chris Wastella rents one duplex while he attends Eastern Maine Community College. He lives with two other students, who both attend Husson University. While the group doesn’t plan to stay in the development after graduation, Wastella said it has been a convenient home and no issues have arisen.
“It’s quiet here and all the neighbors are really nice,” he said.