A company with ties to a prominent Maine logger wants to create 11 residential lots along Nicolin Road in Ellsworth.
The proposed subdivision comes as a competitive local housing market has pushed many low- and moderate-income families out of the city. Ellsworth has largely embraced new development, though the City Council is now weighing a freeze on new RV campgrounds after a group of residents opposed the construction of a 28-site campground on a quiet pocket of Bayside Road.
“The City recognizes the importance of creating additional housing opportunities in Ellsworth and supporting thoughtful residential growth to meet the needs of our community,” said Amy Kenney, the city’s communications director.
Kenney declined to comment on the planned subdivision on Nicolin Road because it is still in the review process.
The plan, which will divide roughly 55 wooded acres into residential plots, will go before the Planning Board for a preliminary review on Sept. 2.
The lot is owned by Little Duck Pond Forest LLC, a real estate business linked to Thomas and Scott Dillon, the father-son duo that run T.R. Dillon Logging, a timber harvesting and land-clearing company based out of Madison.
Scott Dillon did not respond to inquiries about the proposal from the Bangor Daily News on Wednesday.
The proposal does not involve the construction of any buildings — that will likely come later if the plan is approved. The lots will range in size from a little under 3 acres to 8.7 acres, and each will be served by an individual private well, according to an application submitted to the city.
The subdivision would be located within a 1,662-acre parcel, owned by the same company, in the city’s rural zoning district. The lots lie within the Green Lake watershed and portions of the subdivision would sit on a flood hazard zone and a stream, according to an overview of the project submitted to the city.
At the time of its $1.1 million sale to the Dillons in 2020, the parcel was the largest privately held property in Ellsworth, according to its listing. The land is covered in softwood forest and surrounds Little Duck Pond nearby Green Lake.
In 2012, the Dillons’ logging business was fined $35,000 for violating Maine clear-cutting laws in Industry and Peru. State officials said at the time the violations were not intentional.