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Belfast debates additional ‘missing middle’ developments

An illustration shows a tow-story building with gray-toned siding. Rendering / Courtesy Beyond the Meter Inc. The Vine Place Apartments proposal is for two new four-unit buildings.
By Laurie Schreiber

Belfast continues to make headway in its quest to address the housing shortage in the Waldo County city.

In August, the planning board requested further information for an ongoing proposal for a 200-unit “missing middle” condominium development and approved a Waldo Community Action Partners project to build an affordable 60-unit multi-family building, with construction anticipated to start in August 2026.

The board recently heard two additional proposals, one for eight lots for single-family and multi-family development and the other for 10 apartments in three buildings.

Highview subdivision

Carl Savitz of Big Bridge Ventures LLC proposed a subdivision called Highview. The proposal is to divide the site, at the corner of High and Pierce streets in a residential neighborhood near the downtown area, into eight lots on a 2.37-acre site that could support single-family homes and multi-family development in the future. The specifics of the development haven’t been worked out yet.

The site has existing buildings. A commercial building is on the western portion of the site and houses several commercial units. A residential structure is on the northern portion and is utilized as a two-story apartment building. Those two buildings will remain, Bub Fournier, the city’s director of planning and codes, told the board.

Further development would include the subdivided lots plus open space, street trees, landscaping and pedestrian lighting.

A drawing shows squares, writing and color blocks.
Plan / courtesy Big Bridge Ventures LLC
Highview would subdivide a 2.37-acre site into eight lots for single-family and multi-family development at some time in the future.

Savitz anticipated that the estimated cost to build a road and install utilities would be $500,000. He didn’t have a total project cost and didn’t specify which market segment he was targeting.

Two neighbors expressed concern about the potential for increased traffic, high speeds and multiple driveways.

“Pierce Street, with that very formidable hill, is challenging right now to drivers and gets a lot of traffic, a lot of pedestrians and, once you reach a certain point on that hill, there’s a real blind post to the top of the hill: You can’t see if anyone’s coming down,” said one abutter.

Another said of the traffic situation, “It’s just awful the way it is.”

Fournier noted that, if the subdivision were approved, the type of housing development would need further planning board review.

Savitz said he’d like to begin marketing the lots before the road and other infrastructure are complete, in order to gauge interest and to help determine unit pricing. The board asked Savitz to submit road construction drawings and his plan for a performance guarantee before agreeing to pre-sales, before the infrastructure is complete. Also, requests included open space delineation and a stormwater drainage plan. 

The proposal was tabled but is scheduled for the board’s Dec. 10 meeting.

Vine Place Apartments

The planning board considered a site plan amendment for a proposal from Randy Cornelius and his company, Beyond the Meter Inc., for a multi-family housing development on the corner of Vine Street and Waldo Avenue, northwest of Route 1 and the downtown area.

The proposal includes Building A, a new 3,855-square-foot structure for 4 three-bedroom residential apartments near Vine Street; Building B, a new 2,072-square-foot structure for 4 two-bedroom residential apartments; and Building C, a renovation that’s underway of an existing 1,920-square-foot structure, which formerly housed a cannabis business called New World Organics, for two residential apartments.

Other elements include a parking lot with seven spaces, grading and drainage improvements, landscape improvements, limited lighting and utilities to serve the two new buildings. 

Primary access to the two new buildings would be from Vine Street.

The partially developed site has an existing 16,200-square-foot office building fronting Waldo Avenue, called Park Place Suites, existing paved parking areas and exiting entrances off Waldo Avenue and Vine Street.

Tom Fowler of Terra Firma Professional Engineering, representing Cornelius, said the Park Place Suites building and surrounding site would not undergo any changes. 

Building C is a smaller existing building that’s behind Park Place Suites.

Infrastructure improvements would include utilities, additional hydrants, parking, pedestrian access, landscape buffering, dumpster relocation and lighting. 

About a half-dozen local residents opposed the project. One said the proposal is not an appropriate scale for the neighborhood, but added she was in favor of thoughtful growth. Another expressed concern that the scale of development could increase the number of residents, lights and loss of trees on Vine Street, and said a more modestly scaled building would be better suited for the site. 

A couple of speakers said Vine Street is a close-knit, single-family, owner-occupied neighborhood and the proposal would be out of place. 

Cornelius said the site would be improved regarding pedestrian access and the scale of the buildings would align with neighboring properties.

Mike Hurley, a member of the city’s housing and property development committee who said he was speaking as a resident, spoke in favor of the development, saying there’s a need for missing middle housing to help bolster the city’s economic growth.

Hurley said a lot of affordable housing is being built in Belfast and there’s also high-end housing.

“Those two ends of the spectrum are very well taken care of in Belfast,” he said. ”What’s missing is what’s being proposed here. Belfast needs what’s called the ‘missing middle.’”

The board asked Cornelius to open a dialogue for further discussion with neighborhood residents about their concerns.

“This is very appropriate for that location,” said board member Lewis Baker. “We need housing in the city.”

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