Land use change would permit downtown car washes

GREENVILLE — The Greenville Planning Board approved a request for car wash businesses potentially to be located in the Downtown District 2 zone during an Aug. 5 meeting.

Any such proposal would need to come before the planning board for approval. The planning board’s change to the land use table now goes to the Select Board, and if approved there, to town meeting for a vote. 

Code Enforcement Officer Tim Post received inquiries from a couple about opening a car wash in Downtown District 2. 

The easiest way to do this would be to change the land use table, which had stated there was no conditional use.

“So if somebody proposes a car wash in the Downtown District 2, they come before the board and are approved through you folks,” Post said.

In other business, the planning board accepted a request for a permit for a Scammon Road subdivision to be built by Mike Theriault Construction pending a few changes.

Theriault had previously presented a preliminary map showing the development of seven lots, approximately two acres each, to encompass 15 acres on the front of a 100-acre property. Each lot will have its own septic and water and Theriault plans to put all power underground.

Board member John Contreni wondered about what term should be used regarding wind power, such as mill or turbine. Theriault will find the correct legal phrasing to ban these units and this will be added to the subdivision application. 

The board accepted a Drew Road subdivision proposal for rental cabins from Craig Myers to allow him to continue developing the project. 

Myers has 13 acres now and he plans to more than double this by the purchase of 15 more acres on the Pleasant Street side. On six lots he would like to construct short-term rental cabins, each with its own water and sewer, and potentially a storage unit on the parcel.

When asked by Planning Board Chair Brent Ireland, Post said there would be no zoning or land use table changes with Myers’ proposal. 

Myers will work with a surveyor to divide his land and will continue to be in contact with Post.

Post continues to work on 911 addressing, including adding Timber Way off Spruce Street to keep the project going. 

The Northern Forest Center is scheduled to break ground on its innovative 24-unit housing development Timber Way with an on-site public event at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 27.

The approximately $12.5 million Timber Way housing development will feature a mix of single-family homes and duplexes, ranging from one to three bedrooms, in a clustered neighborhood designed to encourage community connections among residents.  

The Center is working in partnership with TMBR, a mass timber design company, to create quality homes using an innovative mass timber system customized for rural places. The mass timber homes will feature open-concept floor plans and range from roughly 1,000 to 1,600 square feet.  

The Aug. 27 event will mark the official groundbreaking for the center’s housing project and celebrate the completion of the $1.4 million related public infrastructure expansion undertaken through a partnership between the Center and the town of Greenville, which included extending public water and sewer service to the property and constructing a new town road, Timber Way.  

Funding for the expansion came largely from a grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission.

The center is contracting with Maine-based Sargent Corp. to conduct the private site work, including underground utilities, site grading and foundation pads for the first phase of 10 homes. Plans are for the first homes to be available for purchase or rent by fall 2026 and for all 10 Phase 1 homes to be completed in spring 2027. 

The center’s goal is to provide quality housing that is affordable for middle-income, year-round residents to purchase or rent.