Land Bank Commission

City of Portland Land Bank Commission Agenda The Land Bank Commission is responsible for identifying and protecting open space resources with the city of Portland. The Commission seeks to preserve a balance between development and conservation of open space important for wildlife, ecological, environmental, scenic or outdoor recreational values. Commission Members: Alaina Chormann, Daniel Herzlinger, Jon Kachmar, Joshua Barber, Michael Carey, Michael Scrameyer, Robert Foster. City Staff: Ethan Hipple (Parks, Recreation, and Facilities Director), Doug Roncarati (Public Works- Stormwater Coordinator), Jessica Teesdale (PRF Sr. Executive Assistant) September 2, 2025 2:30 PM On Tuesday September 2, 2025 at 2:30 pm the Portland Land Bank Commission will hold site visit to review Lot 013 K013 at the end of Sumner Court. Meeting start point: Fort Sumner Park 64 North Street Portland, Maine 04101 The Land Bank Commission will conduct this meeting in person. I. Agenda i. Sumner Court Site Visit 2:30 PM meet at Fort Sumner Park and walk to Sumner Court. This site visit is for background purposes only, and no action or votes will be taken. Page 1 7/10/25, 11:28 AM City of Portland Mail - Re: Purchase of City Owned Lot on Sumner Court Jessica Teesdale <jteesdale@portlandmaine.gov> Re: Purchase of City Owned Lot on Sumner Court Pamela Jack <pamjack1@gmail.com> Thu, Jul 10, 2025 at 10:59 AM To: Ethan Hipple <ehipple@portlandmaine.gov> Cc: landbank@portlandmaine.gov, Jessica Teesdale <jteesdale@portlandmaine.gov>, Jon Kachmar <jon.kachmar@gmail.com>, Devon Platte <devonplatte@gmail.com> Good Morning, Ethan: Thanks for your reply regarding our request to purchase a small portion of Land Bank property located adjacent to Sumner Court on Munjoy Hill. Yes, we would like to pursue this request, and welcome the opportunity to have this item added to the August 13, 2025, Land Bank agenda for you and the commission to discuss, thanks. The specific parcel we are interested in is currently part of a group of five lots with an address of "30 North Street rear,” which is the old rock quarry that runs between North Street and Sheridan Streets. The lot we are interested in is marked as 013 K013 on the attached tax map, and consists of 4,850 square feet, with some frontage on the north side of Sumner Court (a dirt lane that connects to North Street). Following up on your recommendation to demonstrate why this sale would be in the City’s best interest, here are a few points for you and the Land Bank Commission to consider: 1. This parcel may never be built upon due to the narrow 12’ width of Sumner Court, and also the steep topography of the parcel. Given these facts, the lot holds little to no value to most anyone else. As abutters and owners of 28 North Street, our interest in the property is to increase our off-street parking by two to three spaces on the small level portion on the south end of the parcel before it drops off. This would in turn create more open parking spots on (already congested) North Street, which would be a significant ongoing benefit to the neighborhood. 2. Additionally, we would also landscape and maintain the remainder of this overgrown parcel (which the City currently does not do). As a matter of fact, for many years people have been using the gully of this particular parcel as a dumping ground for trash, discarded furniture, computer monitors, yard waste, etc. Also, homeless people have been chased away from camping and growing marijuana on this site on a regular basis by us, other neighbors, and the Portland Police Department. Our goal is to improve and better maintain the space, stop the illegal dumping, camping and marijuana cultivation, reduce some of the petty property crime that currently plagues our area, and generally be good stewards of the land … all of which is a significant benefit to our Munjoy Hill neighborhood, and the City of Portland. 3. The general public does not use or even know about this underutilized "30 North Street rear" Land Bank property. As outlined in the Land Bank annual report, “The E11 land drops precipitously from the western side of North Street to the eastern side of Sheridan Street, making most of it unsuitable for development.” Also, the land is surrounded by private property with very limited access, rendering it essentially landlocked and unusable by the general public. In summary, given its topography and access issues, the property has no practical use beyond habitat and the aforementioned frequent dumping activity and homeless campers looking for an overgrown, wooded place to hide. 4. The proceeds from the sale of this parcel could be added to the annual Land Bank operating budget, thereby reducing the need to request those additional funds from the City operating budget, and allowing the Land Bank Commission to pursue and manage other more important, higher priority parcels that would be of greater benefit to the citizens of Portland. 5. Additionally, the City would collect our annual property taxes in perpetuity from the sale of this parcel, thereby adding to the annual City operating budget and potentially reducing the need for future property tax increases. 6. As you can see from the current irregular shape of the 013 K013 lot, the City actually has a history of selling portions of this same parcel to private individuals in our neighborhood. Specifically, 013 K070 was sold to a neighbor on 03/12/69 (Book 3077, Page 700), which has been used as unpaved off-street parking ever since. And 013 K069 was sold to a different neighbor on 5/17/2001 (Book 16312, Page 294), and is also now used as unpaved off-street parking. As previously mentioned, our intention is to do the same, extending this existing parking along the north side of Sumner Court by 2-3 spaces (for the benefit of our 28 North Street tenants), and generally cleaning up and maintaining the land going forward (which as avid gardeners, we love to do!). https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ik=c89fc43190&view=pt&search=all&permmsgid=msg-f:1837272468121511253&simpl=msg-f:1837272468121511253 1/2 Page 2 7/10/25, 11:28 AM City of Portland Mail - Re: Purchase of City Owned Lot on Sumner Court 7. Finally, the City owns an existing right of way along the entire west edge of the larger "30 North Street rear" Land Bank parcel, with access via Sumner Court to the south (and via the old Shailer School to the north). Thus, the sale of this particular 013 K013 parcel would have no negative impact on the City’s access to the remaining four Land Bank parcels from the southern end, and plenty of habitat would still remain between North and Sheridan Streets (if that is still a goal for this property). We would like to attend the August 13 meeting in person, if possible, so that we could be present to respond to any questions raised by the Land Bank Commission during discussion of this topic. Please let us know if this would be okay? Thanks very much! Regards, Pamela Jack & Devon Platte 28 North Street Portland [Quoted text hidden] [Quoted text hidden] Notice: Under Maine law, documents - including e-mails - in the possession of public officials or city employees about government business may be classified as public records. There are very few exceptions. As a result, please be advised that what is written in an e-mail could be released to the public and/or the media if requested. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ik=c89fc43190&view=pt&search=all&permmsgid=msg-f:1837272468121511253&simpl=msg-f:1837272468121511253 2/2 Page 3