LEWISTON – Auburn Savings and Loan is moving forward with plans to expand into Lewiston by next fall.

The Planning Board has approved plans for a two-story, full-service branch. The savings and loan plans include a building with more than 6,000 square feet of office space, a drive-up window and 22 parking spaces at the intersection of Sabattus and Orange streets.

“If it had been a smaller building, a single story and the same footprint, the Planning Board wouldn’t have reviewed it,” said City Planner Dave Hediger.

Site approval would have been handled at the staff level, but the size of the building triggered a Planning Board review, Hediger said.

Construction could begin this spring and the branch could open as early as November, said President Allen Sterling. It will cater to commercial customers, Sterling said.

“We’ve talked about doing this for a number of years,” he said. Lewiston is the bank’s second biggest customer base, Sterling said, “so it’s a natural outgrowth of our business to be on both sides of the river.”

Hediger said the city’s only concern was traffic. Engineering reports estimated the savings and loan would create 22 new car trips at the intersection during the busiest morning hours and 32 trips during the busiest evening hours.

“We think there will be more traffic generated than that,” Hediger said. “We don’t think it will be significantly more, but we need to agree on a number.

“Overall, it’s a great project. The architect designed it to blend into the surrounding neighborhood,” he said. “It was designed well, and it should a be a nice addition to the area.”

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