NORWAY — The owner of a garage and used car business in Mechanic Falls will open a sales lot on Main Street this summer.

Shawn Holbrook of Norway, owner of Economy Auto on Route 121 in Mechanic Falls, said Friday he is looking forward to doing business in his hometown.

Holbrook is leasing the parking lot and 19th-century house at 230 Main St. near the Rowe Elementary School from local business owner Chris Farrar.

While Holbrook is still working out the details of the plan and awaiting state licencing approval, he said he hopes to have a car lot with about 30 cars and a sales office. At least two people will be employed.

The Planning Board gave Holbrook the go-ahead earlier this month after determining the business was a continuation of a commercial use of the property. Holbrook told the board June 12 that the hours of operation will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The business will be closed on Sunday.

Holbrook said he is sensitive to the character of the adjacent Norway Downtown Historical District and he called Andrea Burns of Norway Downtown to discuss any concerns she and others might have.

Holbrook said he is having a New England-style sign designed and constructed and will have some landscaping, including a planter on the curb cut.

The lot sits on the Pennesseewassee Stream and is considered in the shoreland zone, but the new use is acceptable, according to the Planning Board.

The Victorian house, which is believed to have been built about 1890 and is the former Chandler Funeral Home, will remain the same except for new windows in the addition to the house which overlooks the lot, Holbrook said.

The 4,700-square-foot building with its distinctive wraparound porch and bay windows, showcases beautiful interior woodwork and stained-glass windows. Holbrook said the downstairs will be used for office space while the upstairs may eventually be rented as an apartment.

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