SCARBOROUGH — Town Manager Tom Hall may not have asked Santa for 18 acres of land at Oak Hill, but a unanimous Dec. 18 council vote delivered the gift from developers Hedy and Will Jarvis.

Situated between Black Point Road and Eastern Road, with about 725 feet of frontage on U.S. Route 1, the 18 acres will be a buffer between new development taking shape in Oak Hill.

The council vote allows Hall to sign documents to receive the gift and certify the donation to the Internal Revenue Service. The town will also pay about $4,300 in property taxes due on the land, and help create a conservation easement blocking development of the land.

“It’s a fairly high-valued wetland (that) doesn’t serve much of a development purpose,” Hall told the council. He said the land could be used to create pedestrian access from Eastern Road to the U.S. Route 1 and Hannaford Drive area.

Hall also said preserving the land will relieve some concerns about storm runoff.

The land sits between property being developed for a new Starbucks and Biddeford Savings Bank branch, near the intersection of U.S. Route 1 and Hannaford Drive; the existing Oak Hill Citgo at U.S. Route 1 and Black Point Road, and an assisted living center under construction on Black Point Road.

The Jarvises and their company, Black Point Development, previously sold the land for the bank branch and assisted living center. The remaining half of property taxes due on the bank property and buffer acreage will be paid by Biddeford Savings Bank, according to attorney Lawrence Clough, who represents the Jarvises.

David Harry can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 110 or dharry@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidHarry8.


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