Portland Company, 58 Fore Street, Photo by Anna Karlina Peplowski. annapaplowski@gmail.com

By Carol McCracken  (Post # 2,232)

The public is invited to participate in a site walk with the city’s planning board tomorrow of 58 Fore Street on the Portland waterfront.  The walk takes place on Tuesday, November 18th and begins at 3:30 pm.  It will convene on the sidewalk at the entrance to the site of the former Portland Yacht Services.  The primary fous of the site walk is to consider the proposed height overlay amendments. Public comment will not be taken during the site walk. This walk is in response to an application by CPBE, LLC and CPB2 Management for a mixed-use development on this almost 10 acres of prime property at the bottom of Munjoy Hill.

The property, most recently a boatyard, is looking less and less like one as it moves its operations to a new location on the west end of Commercial Street; called New Yard.  As boats at the 58 Fore Street marina have been hauled for the season, they have been hauled at the New Yard location.  The rest of the operations are scheduled to move by December 31st to comply with an agreement with the Brady investment group.

However, public comment will be heard at the workshop meeting that convenes at 4:30 pm in city council chambers at city hall later the same day.

At its Tuesday, October 21st meeting, Chairman Stuart O’Brion suggested that the board go on a site walk of the property specifically to study the building heights on the site.  Deb Andrews, of the  Historical Preservation Office, wanted the planning board to rule on the Local Historic District designation for the property, but the board ruled otherwise.

The historic property was sold last year by Phineas Sprague, Jr. to Jim Brady and his investment group for $10 million.