01/14/2012

Proposed gourmet market gets easement for exit onto High School access road

The Town Council has approved an easement connecting the rear of the lot at 349 Ocean House Road to the adjacent High School access road.

The easement will allow an exit-only driveway to the access road from a business envisioned by Cape Elizabeth residents Michael and Stephanie Concannon.

The couple are looking to establish a gourmet market on the vacant property, once the site of a real-estate agency. The primary entrance and exit would be on Ocean House Road, where the current driveway is. The parking lot would be at the rear of the proposed new building, with a second, exit-only driveway out on to the access road.

"We feel this would promote the best traffic flow, and it would be best for traffic safety in this part of town," said Michael Concannon, in a letter to Town Manager Michael McGovern.

The access and utility easement was granted by the council Jan. 9, 2012. In exchange, the Concannons will pay $5,000 to be credited to the School Department.

The Concannons also plan to relocate the office portion of their other business, Port Printing Solutions, to the Ocean House Road location, according to Concannon's letter.

The Planning Board has discussed the plan in a workshop but no formal application for site-plan approval has been submitted.

The exit on to the High School access is similar to what was part of a mixed-use proposal for the site in 2006, before the traffic light at the access road and Ocean House Road was installed. That project, which included a Dunkin' Donuts franchise, was never submitted to the Planning Board, and the lot has been empty since the former real-estate office was razed in 2007.