China planners approve permits for retail store, rebuilding boat landing

by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members approved both applications on their Jan. 14 agenda, the one from the town after an unusually complex discussion.

The meeting began with a short public hearing on a proposed retail store at 363 Route 3. There were no comments from anyone present or on line, and codes officer Nicholas French, attending virtually due to illness, said he had received none.

After action on the town’s application, board members reviewed the Route 3 application, presented by engineer Steven Govoni, president of Skowhegan-based Wentworth Partners & Associates. Govoni was speaking for the developer, Calito Development Group, of Torrington, Connecticut.

Govoni made an initial presentation at the board’s November 2024 meeting. The public hearing was first scheduled for Dec. 10, but a snowstorm led board chairman Toni Wall to cancel the meeting. Govoni thanked her, saying driving had been dangerous Dec. 10.

Board members compared plans for the store with the 15 criteria in China’s ordinance, found that the criteria were met and unanimously approved a permit, with the usual reminder that there is a 30-day appeal period.

The single-story, 9,100-square-foot steel building will replace the two-story wooden building that most recently housed Grace Academy Learning Center (closed in June 2022). Govoni said the store will use the existing septic system and a new well, which requires state approval.

There will be two bathrooms, one for staff and one for the public.

Planners asked if town would support homeless veterans housing

At the Jan. 14 China Planning Board meeting, resident and former select board member Robert McFarland and his business partner, Darren Desveaux, of Waterville, asked whether board members think the town would support a housing project for homeless veterans, including a vocational rehabilitation facility.

The two have organized a nonprofit organization, yet to be named, and are considering buying land on Pleasant View Ridge Road, at the McCaslin Road intersection. MacFarland said their project would replicate one near the Togus Veterans Administration Medical Center.

Codes Officer Nicholas French said more than three individual housing units would constitute a subdivision, even if the land were not divided into lots.

Govoni said the Central Maine Power line across the back of the property limits placement of buffers from neighboring properties, so they will be the existing lawns, not the trees often required. Because the neighbors are also commercial establishments, board members were satisfied.

In reply to the criterion about hazardous materials, Govoni said there will not be enough to require preventive measures under state law.

He said the store is part of a “national brand” that has its own safety standards and protocols, sometimes stricter than state laws.

He did not name the “national brand.”

The application from the Town of China was to move more than 100 cubic yards of earth. The earth-moving is part of rebuilding Town Landing Road in South China.

The plan select board members have endorsed involves paving the short road that runs to the boat landing on China Lake, with the paving sloped to send run-off into ditches with check-dams, and at the lake a buffer strip and an improved launching area.

As directed by the town manager, codes officer French had filled out the application, because, he said, he was the most knowledgeable person except for those who will do the work. At the Jan. 14 meeting, he answered planning board members’ questions virtually. The application asked for evidence that the project met the same 15 criteria applicable to the Route 3 retail store.

Rebuilding the road is intended to minimize run-off into China Lake. French reminded planning board members the town has been legally required to take action for 20 years. Selectboard members have discussed the landing at several meetings in the last couple years.

French had left blank the reply to the first criterion, whether the project meets all applicable laws and rules. He said the town has a state Department of Environmental Protection permit by rule, and the project meets town requirements.

Board member Michael Brown objected to leaving an answer blank, leading to a 15-minute discussion of whether the application should have been presented by the town manager or a select board member, instead of the codes officer.

Replies to other criteria included references to the proposed check-dams in the proposed ditches and other planned work beyond moving more than 100 cubic feet of earth. For example, French wrote that the project would enhance the value of neighboring properties, and in discussion mentioned the paved road – not part of the work applied for, protested board member Dwaine Drummond.

In another answer, French referred to crushed rock to be placed near the lake. Again, not relevant, Drummond said. With French’s approval, Wall deleted the reference from her copy of the application.

After almost an hour, the permit was approved, conditional on a required flood hazard application that French said he needs to create. The ordinance requires a flood hazard document only for structures, not for road improvements, he explained.

During the public comment period at the end of the Jan. 14 meeting, several abutters who had watched on line objected to some of the board’s conclusions. They reminded planning board members of the requirement to prepare detailed written findings supporting their decision.

At previous meetings and hearings, neighbors have urged select board members to limit the landing to hand-carried canoes and kayaks, minimize signage and otherwise try to keep their neighborhood quiet.

The next regular China Planning Board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, in the town office meeting room.