Public can address Frontier House proposal

by Joshua Maloni
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, April 19, 2008

The Village of Lewiston Planning Board will provide residents an opportunity to voice their opinion on the Frontier House proposal on Monday, May 12. A public information meeting will be held at the start of the board’s 6:30 p.m. session.

On Monday, the Planning Board accepted Frontier House owner and developer Richard Hastings’ first submission. The project’s environmental impact is currently under review.

Though the project has been the talk of the town, and extensively covered by area media outlets, no formal question-and-answer session has occurred.

Late last year, Hastings, via architect Timothy E. Kupinski of the EI Team, presented the Planning Board with a concept to wrap a retail hub and senior condominium structure around the Frontier House. As part of the proposal, the historic building – the centerpiece of Center Street’s business district – would be revitalized and reopened.

The Planning Board rejected the proposal on March 17, as it required four variances to the Lewiston Village Code. The next night, the Zoning Board of Appeals approved the variances, which related to the project’s density, parking, playground and green space.

Before Hastings is granted final permission to build, he will need:

•The blessing of several state agencies, including the Department of Environmental Conservation and the State Historic Preservation Office.

•A negative declaration on the long-form State Environmental Quality Review Act assessment.

•A special use permit from the Village Board of Trustees.

•Permission to use the sewer system, as granted by Tim Lockhart, administrator of the Town of Lewiston Water Pollution Control Center, and the Town of Lewiston Town Council.

Planning Board member Kristin Gamble suggested Kupinski meet with Lockhart, and village Department of Public Works Superintendent Bryan Meigs and Engineer Mike Marino to ensure his ducks are in a row.

•To prove to the Planning Board that the Frontier House will not sit idle as the new addition is created.

“That’s not our goal,” Kupinski said.

Nor is it Hastings’ intention to wait for grant money before touching the Frontier House.

“You can’t depend on someone dropping $3 million in your lap for construction,” Kupinski said.

“Our goal is that these two projects are built simultaneously,” he said.