Bangor committee recommends demolition of 271 Elm Street, sets Nov. 25 deadline

At a special meeting May 28, the Bangor City Business Economic Development Committee discussed a staff recommendation to declare 271 Elm Street dangerous and move forward with its demolition, Economic Development Director Anne Creek said.

Creek told the committee staff and the owner had met with Carpenter Associates engineer Randy Bragg and interim Code Enforcement Director Brenda Balatta to review structural concerns and neighbor complaints. "Our recommendation is to move forward with the demolition, but to indicate that he has until, November 25, to demolish the structure and, additionally, to create a safe site," Creek said.

The building’s owner told staff he wanted to demolish the structure and said he would do so within six months, Creek said. Staff advised the committee that the scope of any renovation would trigger a recently changed building code and would require substantially more work than earlier standards, a factor that informed the recommendation to pursue demolition.

Committee members pressed staff on interim safety measures. Councilor Malik asked whether a fence would be installed; Creek said the owner agreed to put up a fence but did not give a specific schedule. Councilor Melo suggested setting a date certain for fence installation and trash removal; the committee indicated 30 days as a reasonable timeframe.

Committee members then asked about the legal process for requiring cleanup. A staff member identified as Grace said the statute governing the dangerous-structure process covers demolition or renovation but that separate enforcement—specifically a notice of violation—would be the mechanism to require a fence or debris removal. "No. This would just be, it would be demolish or renovate. So it sounds like probably going forward with the demolishing it by November. But, separately, you could do something" Grace said, and another staff exchange confirmed that a notice of violation would be issued by staff.

Anne Creek noted neighbors had raised concerns about trash and hazardous conditions; staff reported the owner had not yet removed trash at the time of the meeting but had indicated he would. The owner also indicated a plan to place two housing units on the property, Creek said.

There was no formal vote recorded in the committee transcript. Committee chair Poletier and members present did not request a motion; Creek said she would consider the recommendation to proceed with the demolition "done" unless someone asked for a motion.

The committee instructed staff to pursue the demolition recommendation with a target completion date of Nov. 25 and to use code-enforcement procedures as appropriate to require interim site safety; staff clarified that a separate notice-of-violation process would be used to compel the fence installation and trash removal, with 30 days discussed as the expected compliance window.

Background: Committee members present identified themselves at the start of the session as Councilor Fisch, Councilor Maurer, Councilor Fournier, Councilor Beck, Councilor Dean and Chair Poletier. The meeting focused solely on the single agenda item concerning 271 Elm Street and lasted roughly six minutes. The property is the subject of neighbor complaints and an engineer’s assessment that prompted staff’s recommendation.

The committee did not adopt a formal ordinance or resolution at the meeting; staff actions described (demolition process and notice of violation) were described as administrative processes to be carried out by city staff.