By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

The development company looking to build a CVS in downtown Saco must provide more information about the historical significance of buildings on and next to the proposed Elm Street building site.

The Saco Planning Board unanimously decided Tuesday night the site plan application submitted by Grammas Investment LLC is incomplete, reversing a December vote that deemed the application complete. The project would require the demolition of seven buildings on six lots on Elm Street, Pleasant Street and Thornton Avenue.

Opponents of the plan say more time is needed to determine if any of the buildings set to be demolished have historical significance. The house at 59 Pleasant St. was built as early as 1799 and was home to Cyrus King, whose relative signed the Constitution, according to opponents.  

Bill Kany, an attorney for developer John Grammas, told board members the application was complete and site plans were made based on information from the planning department. The department told the developer there were no buildings currently listed on or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places at the site, he said.

“It is not our responsibility, nor our function, to do 200 years of deed research to determine that Cyrus King once owned 59 Pleasant St.,” Kany said.

Board member Donald Girouard said it is “not an unreasonable burden” to ask the applicant to gather more information about the buildings.

“These are buildings that have been there for God knows how many years and are the fabric of the community,” he said, adding the developer should be sensitive to their history.

Following the meeting, Kany said the board placed an “unacceptable” burden on the applicant. He called the request of the board a “Herculean task” to accomplish that is unprecedented for the city.

City Planner Bob Hamblen said this “level of scrutiny is unprecedented in the last 10 years” and the board has not required this level of research from an applicant. However, he said he understands why the board wants to take a closer look at the historical significance of the buildings.

“If this moves forward and the buildings are torn down, they are gone forever,” he said.             

        Hamblen said Grammas will need to hire a qualified expert in historic buildings to conduct an “intensive local level survey” of the properties in question. The process likely will take up to two months to complete and information gathered will be given to the planning board, he said.

        If one of the buildings on the development site is eligible for the historic district, the developer may still be able to move forward with the plan, Hamblen said. The standards for approval for site plan review do not include a provision that prevents an eligible building from being torn down, he said.       

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.