Pierce Atwood’s plan to move its headquarters to a former cannery on Cumberland Wharf shows that the city’s waterfront zoning is working. The Planning Board will discuss the proposed changes to Portland’s waterfront zoning. The board is also scheduled to meet with Waterfront Maine, which owns Cumberland Wharf, to discuss its site plan for the Pierce Atwood project.
The authority has invited public opinion on the Pierce Atwood’s plan. But some pier owners, who contend the rules are too restrictive, continue to push for changes to allow more nonmarine development. Those changes are now being reviewed by the Planning Board, which will discuss them today. The City Council is expected to vote on the changes early this summer.
The current rules allowed offices on upper floors of buildings in the central waterfront zone, but the ground floors must be reserved for marine use. Because the Pierce Atwood project would follow those rules, no zoning changes are needed for the project to go forward. The project would preserve the dock space on the wharf for commercial fishing boats – another requirement of the current zoning.
Steve DiMillo, whose family owns DiMillo’s Floating Restaurant, said Pierce Atwood’s move from One Monument Square is possible only because the city changed its waterfront zoning in 2006 to allow for office use on 100 percent of buildings’ upper floors. He said the city should ease the restrictions more to encourage more development on other piers. He said pier owners need more income to pay for expensive maintenance.
