A group of Gorham residents are appealing a recent decision by the town Planning Board to greenlight a 146,000-square-foot Amazon distribution facility.
The residents filed an appeal with the Cumberland County Superior Court. They argue that the site plan approved last month does not address their longstanding concerns about the project’s environmental and traffic impacts.
“Our reason for getting into this fight is that we care about our community,” said Josh Trombley, an organizer with Gorham United, which filed the appeal. “We think that this project is not a good fit, that it’s going to bring a lot of significant negative impacts.”
The residents are asking the court to overturn the Gorham Planning Board approval. They argue that the site plan does not address town development codes and land use standards on traffic, road capacity, access, stormwater issues, noise and other impacts.
“The town needs to hold every developer to the same standard and hold them to the standards that we’ve set out in our ordinances,” Trombley said.
The town of Gorham did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Amazon has said the facility will bring 170 jobs to Gorham. The online retail giant must still secure environmental and traffic permits from the state in order for the project to proceed.
And Trombley said Gorham United is still collecting signatures for a citizen’s petition to block the project for at least six months.
If enough signatures are collected, Trombley said the Gorham Town Council could approve the moratorium or send the referendum to a special election.
The town of Gorham purchased the 94-acre parcel off Main Street and Shamrock Drive several years ago with the intent of selling it to a developer that could generate industrial business and property tax revenue for the town. Town councilors have previously said that Gorham had fielded a handful of different offers for the parcel over the years, but none have worked out.
Last summer, the town sold the land to Amazon for $4 million.
Maine’s first Amazon facility opened in Caribou last year. Construction is underway on a warehouse in Hermon, and both Waterville and Sidney have given approval to an Amazon distribution warehouse that shares the city-town line.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.