NORWAY — A Portland man constructing a wedding barn on a rural private road has pledged to drastically reduce the number of parking spaces at the site in response to neighbors’ concerns about traffic.
Portland-based business owner Anthony Fratianne said Monday that he will reduce the number of on-site parking spots at Granite Ridge Estate — a lodge and barn with views of Mt. Washington — from 80 to 20.
Instead, parking at the newly constructed barn at 65 Delano Drive will take place off-site and most wedding guests will be transported from an as yet unnamed parking lot by limo.
In addition, Fratianne appears to have agreed to a lease with Scott and Nicole Mondor of Affordable Events, LLC to lease a parking site at 7 Plains Road in Harrison and at an unnamed facility in Oxford, according to Planning Board documents.
Norway has no zoning laws, and there are no guidelines on commercial business development in residential areas.
Fratianne said Monday that he revised the plans in response to feedback from neighbors.
“I love coming back to Norway,” he said. “We want to be here for the next 30 to 40 years and see the changes as an investment as good neighbors.”
Plans to turn the barn, which can hold up to 200 people for weddings and other functions, into a small function center has drawn concern from neighbors who are wary about the impact on the narrow road.
A letter sent July 2 to the Planning Board from 10 residents living on Delano Drive reiterated that allowing events to be held at the site will imperil the neighborhood.
In May, a project landscape architect told the Planning Board that the neighborhood typically generates eight trips a day per household; under the Fratianne’s former plans, a 60-car average per wedding and another 20 vehicles for support services would average 80 trips up and down the road.
There are 18 houses in the neighborhood along Delano and Nancy Ann drives. According to Planning Board documents, traffic to the events will flow up Delano Drive, a private road off Norway Center Road.
In 2006, Fratianne built a 3,500-square-foot timber framed lodge, which he rents out sporadically throughout the summer. If he gets approval from the Planning Board, Fratianne would host the weddings at the barn and rent the lodge to the bridal party.
Functions will be held seasonally, and only on Saturdays, he said.
A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, July 10, at the Town Office on Danforth Street.
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