By Molly Lovell
Editor
     There’s no doubt that Scarborough has seen a fair amount of growth in the past 10 years and as developments sprout up along roadways in towns across Maine, some of those towns are looking to Scarborough to learn how to deal with them.
     In 2001 Scarborough came up with a comprehensive list of architectural guidelines that encourage New England style architecture for commercial developments.
     “It was an initiative based on Scarborough seeing a fair amount of growth and Scarborough wanted to retain a sense of identity and community in the face of this growth,” said the town’s Assistant Planner, Dan Bacon.
     The town of Manchester, which neighbors Augusta, recently formed an architectural standards committee and is looking to implement guidelines that mirror Scarborough’s. Bacon said Augusta has inquired about the town’s design standards as well as some towns in York County.
     “The details of the standards seemed really reasonable,” said Fred Snow, chair of Manchester’s architectural standards committee.
     Snow said that with Augusta right next door, he sees developments eventually moving toward Manchester. “We want to be proactive,” he said of the committee’s actions.
     The town tried to implement such standards in 2005 but they were narrowly defeated at Town Meeting. During the past year the committee has softened some of the guidelines, Snow said. Residents will vote on the revamped guidelines at this year’s Town Meeting in June.
     New England style architecture includes a range of standards, which include pitched roofs, cupolas, dormers and materials such as cedar shingles. Things such as lighting and landscaping are also considered.
     Chair of the Planning Board Susan Auglis was involved in developing the standards back in 2001 and called it a “complex process.”
     “It didn’t happen in a few months. It was stuff in Scarborough that we had never asked before,” she said.
     In terms of big-box stores that have entered the area since the adoption of these guidelines, Auglis said they meet the letter of the standards, but are still going to look like their national chains to an extent.
     Bacon said that for big-box stores especially, the architectural standards call for a more “human scale” design as opposed to the commercial, industrial scale.
     “Sometimes it’s a challenge to apply these standards to these larger buildings due to their size and construction techniques,” he said.
     Bacon said that developers for the incoming Cabela’s store have designed the building to include New England style architecture. He also said Sam’s Club is being expanded and will be rehabbed to include the standards. The super Wal-Mart and Lowes buildings will also incorporate the standards.
     “A year from now we hope people can tell how these buildings have been shaped a bit different than the norm,” Bacon said.
     He said how the planning process goes can be different when dealing with franchise developers compared to local developers.
     “Local developers are aware of the standards and they don’t have an issue with the expectation because they want a good project that’s high quality,” he said.
     In terms of franchise developers, Bacon said it sometimes takes a few extra planning board meetings because they come in with a formula design which then  must be altered to be in line with Scarborough’s standards.
     As far as cost, Bacon speculated that implementing the design standards is more costly for big-box developers compared to local developers because it adds more detail to their construction and design.
     Local architect Timothy Braun of Tidewater Architects said he doesn’t consider Scarborough’s design standards a hindrance because his work tends to be that of New England style architecture.
     Braun designed the Little Dolphin Marketplace as well as Willowdale Place on Rte. One in Scarborough, which is where his office is housed. He has also designed a 190,000 square-foot athletic club, which incorporates the New England design. The club, which is in the concept phase of design, is still a pre-engineered metal building, but the façade of the building includes features such as peaked roofs and other New England style architecture.
     “They (design standards) keep the historic look alive rather than a muddle of different styles,” he said, and added, “It does bring together a continuity.”
     In terms of the planning board process, Braun said sometimes having such standards does take longer. “Sometimes we feel it (the design) meets the standards but it may not be what the town is looking for. We can’t always go beyond those standards and staff has to remember that we’re designing for a specific client,” he said.
     He said he thought it might be helpful for the planning board to have an architect who could act as a mentor to them in the planning process.
     Auglis said she was pleased to learn that other towns were taking Scarborough’s lead in design standards. “We have been one of the fastest growing communities in the state for a long time. This is something we came up with on our own, so it feels good. I look like this as a bit of a kudo to the town of Scarborough,” she said.