‘All systems go’ for Penobscot apartment development
The morning after the planning board gave Northern Bay Commons the green light, heavy equipment was busy at the site of the former Penobscot Nursing Home. Project manager Jamie MacNair, pictured here, has shepherded the project through its twists and turns for three years. Photo by John Boit.
By John Boit
PENOBSCOT—The Penobscot Planning Board voted unanimously on Nov. 4 to approve the final development plans for Northern Bay Commons, the subdivision that will turn the town’s defunct nursing home into eight year-round rental apartments.
The approval came after a 3 ½-hour planning board meeting at Penobscot’s town hall. The vote was 5-0.
“The applicant did a good job of modifying their plan to soothe the concerns of neighbors,” planning board chair Dana Willis told The Rising Tide in an interview after the vote. “ Hopefully it will move forward as permitted and we can get some much-need housing in this state.”
The project, which began three years ago, had been the subject of numerous planning board meetings and then months of appeals board hearings. On Sept. 29, the appeals board kicked the project back to the planning board to start the process over from scratch.
That process–which included five new planning board sessions since early October, Willis said–ended this week when, on Nov. 4, the board voted unanimously to approve the project. As part of the amended plan, the developer created one central septic system for all the units instead of three separate ones each serving two to three apartments. The developer was also granted a variance that allows its access road to be 18 feet wide instead of 24 feet.
The development, now called Northern Bay Commons, is owned by Skip Eaton, a Deer Isle business owner who owns a paving company. The apartments are being built on the site of the former Penobscot Nursing Home by converting two wings of the former facility into the new units.
Penobscot resident Jamie MacNair, who also owns a real estate agency and the town’s general store, is the project manager for the development. She said the planning board vote now means it’s “all systems go” for the development.
“It’s projected we’re 80,000 homes short [in Maine],” MacNair said. “This project meets the needs of people from midshipmen [at Maine Maritime Academy] to the elderly. There’s not enough employee housing, and as a result, there aren’t enough employees. That’s what ignited this. That, and my love of Penobscot.”
She said the apartments will be ready to rent by January. MacNair said they are aiming for rents within a range of $1,200-$2,000 a month, with all utilities, internet, and maintenance services included.
A group of 12 neighbors had banded together to question the project along its lengthy approval process, and hired their own attorney to represent them. That spurred the town to hire its own attorney at a cost of $19,000.
Tim Beidel, an abutter to the development, issued a statement on behalf of the group of neighbors, but did not say if they plan another appeal.
“The final plan was presented for the first time last night,” Beidel said. “We need the time and opportunity to review both the plan and the full record to understand precisely what the planning board and licensed plumbing inspector approved.”
The amended subdivision plan at Northern Bay Commons. Courtesy of Jamie MacNair.
