ME: Portland landowner balks at Downeaster train station proposal

The proposed site for a new passenger train station in Portland has hit a snag with a key property owner saying he's not on board.

Bill Black, who owns a commercial office and warehouse building at 172 St. John St., said the concept plan pitched by Amtrak Downeaster officials would require a lot more of his land than he's willing to give up.

"I'm not against the station," said Black, standing outside his 57,000-square-foot blue metal building. "I'm against the way they're trying to take more of my land."

Black, a Yarmouth attorney who owns a few commercial properties in Portland, said he has spoken with several Downeaster representatives in recent years and is willing to provide a 20- to 30-foot-wide strip for an access road off St. John Street.

But Black believes the concept plan, presented last August by the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, would take a much wider swath of his 3.5-acre parcel. Exactly how much is unclear since the plan is a digital drawing of the station on an aerial image of the neighborhood.

Black said the authority's proposal also would scuttle his plan to build a 20,000-square-foot addition to the warehouse for his current tenant, Ferguson, the largest U.S. distributor of plumbing, heating and ventilation supplies.

"If they want to continue on with what they're proposing, it diminishes the value of my property substantially," Black said. "They ought to be looking at how they can do this more economically."

Black's concern may be premature, according to Patricia Quinn, executive director of the rail authority, which operates the Downeaster for five round trips daily between Boston and Brunswick. The goal is to replace the existing station at the Portland Transportation Center at Thompson's Point.

"Everything is still conceptual," said Quinn. "The facility has not been designed. The engineering plans have not been drawn."

Quinn also said negotiations haven't started with several landowners who would be affected, although rail representatives have been talking with them for years.

"We've been very consistent and continual in our communications with the public and with stakeholders," Quinn said.

The proposed site for a new train station is across from the Metro bus headquarters on St. John Street and would connect to Northern Light Mercy Hospital's campus on the Fore River Parkway.

The location would shave 15 minutes off the Downeaster's northbound and southbound trips — time now spent moving the train on and off a branch of the main rail line to reach the existing station at Thompson's Point.

Chosen last June by the authority's board of directors, the site would be just south of the branch, so the Downeaster could stay on the main line. Eliminating 20 train movements daily would save nearly $1 million in labor and fuel costs annually, while also improving access and reliability.

The new station would include adjacent parking and a circulation area for passenger drop-off and pick-up. It also would include two boarding platforms — one on each side of the tracks — within the railroad right of way; a federally compliant accessible pedestrian bridge over the tracks; and a 750-square-foot, climate-controlled passenger waiting area with ticketing and restrooms.

Selected from three possible sites along St. John Street, it also meets the authority's goals to improve access to vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle connections, public transit, train maintenance and additional rail service, according to the proposal.

It's unclear how many private properties along St. John Street would have to be purchased or taken by eminent domain, Quinn said. Also unknown is whether the site would satisfy growing parking demand at the transportation center or the authority's goal to provide 105 parking spaces at the new station.

Quinn said next steps include developing preliminary engineering and environmental compliance plans and a cost estimate for the project. She has said previously that a new train station and platforms would cost $25 million to $30 million.

The authority will apply for federal funds and non-federal matching dollars within the next year, she said. What impact the Trump administration will have on the goal to build the station within three to five years also is uncertain.

"I do not know," Quinn said.

Based on the concept plan, the station, platforms and pedestrian bridge would be built across the tracks beside Black's property and include some portion of an outdoor storage area that is currently paved and enclosed in chain-link fencing.

Parking for the station would extend north along St. John Street where several small businesses now stand, including a food truck company, a dog day care and a construction company. Attempts to contact other property owners who might be affected were unsuccessful.

Black said his concern isn't about money, although he noted that land on the Portland peninsula is scarce and sells for $3 million to $4 million per acre. The city assessor has valued Black's property at $4.5 million for property tax purposes.

When Black spoke with rail representatives about providing a 20- to 30-foot-wide strip, "I told them I didn't need any compensation," Black said.

But now that he feels rail officials are extending their reach and encroaching on his plan to expand the building, his back is up.

"I'm not going to lay down on this," Black said. "I'm going to fight it."

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