AUGUSTA (AP) – A man who lives in a modest cape-style home that’s part of a quiet neighborhood on a dead-end street may soon find his house in the middle of a big shopping center’s parking lot.

Leonard Smith said he has no intention of seeing the Storey Street property where he’s lived for five years sold under terms offered by the developer.

But the owners of eight other homes on the street not far from Interstate 95 and off one of Augusta’s main avenues have decided to sell to Packard Development Corp.

The Newton, Mass., developer wants to build a 400-thousand-square-foot shopping center, which would include a Target department store and a Lowe’s home building supply store, on 60 acres that include Storey Street and nearby land. The shopping center would open in 2006. Smith, who is 43, said his opposition isn’t about money.

“This is a neighborhood and they’re destroying a neighborhood,” Smith said.

The owner of the Storey Street property, Michael Leo, referred all questions about the property to Smith.

The house and 0.3-acre lot are valued at $73,600 by the city for taxation purposes. Packard’s latest offer was $26,000 less than the previous offer, Smith said. Owners of the neighboring properties have been receiving monthly checks through an option agreement that keeps the properties off the real estate market.

The developer’s present plans show a parking lot surrounding Smith’s house. The city planning board is expected to take up a zoning change needed for the shopping center plan at a meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The 16 acres includes 11 acres being sold by the Kennebec Journal newspaper.

AP-ES-03-07-04 1231EST