Auburn approves zoning rules for government buildings

AUBURN — The City Council on Friday needed just two minutes to approve proposed zoning regulations that will provide them greater oversight of new governmental facilities built within the city.

The measure has been discussed by the council and the Planning Board in recent weeks as the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office moves ahead with plans for a new headquarters on Center Street.

A moratorium on that issue was set to expire March 2.

“What this means is that we have an ordinance in place where any type of governmental building that wants to be built in Auburn not only has to get Planning Board approval, but they actually have to conduct a neighborhood impact study, too,” Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque said of the new ordinance. “And that has to go to the City Council for approval.”

Last March, Androscoggin County purchased the former Evergreen Subaru dealership at 774 Center St. for $4.5 million in hopes of building a new Sheriff’s Office headquarters. However, with some elected officials and staff concerned with the location and lack of details on the project, the Auburn City Council implemented a six-month moratorium on new public safety facilities. That moratorium was ultimately extended another six months and would have expired in early March.

Androscoggin County Sheriff Eric Samson was not at the meeting Friday but had been expecting the vote. He said he expects to keep moving forward with his plans to get his department out of its current 165-year-old building on Turner Street. He said his department will work with an attorney and an engineering firm to address all requirements for the new building.

“We are confident in our ability to meet all requirements of impact studies and needs assessments,” he said, “and we already know we are in the appropriate zone so we’ll see how it ends.”