A certificate from the Wiscasset Historic Preservation Commission for a modular home on Federal Street will wait until October to give Habitat for Humanity time to meet with neighbors and discuss styles that would be appropriate to the neighborhood.

On Aug. 17, Mark Primeau, director of Habitat for Humanity 7 Rivers, presented the plan for a one-story home at 142 Federal St. The lot is long but narrow, and he envisioned a small bungalow. He showed an image to neighbors who had come after learning of the certificate application. The image was not the plan he was working on with the modular home company; it was the inspiration for the modular home, he said.  

Some commission members suggested that instead of a bungalow, Primeau consider a Cape Cod cottage that could be expanded, if needed, toward the back of the property. One of the neighbors, Carol Chase, said she didn’t have a problem with the bungalow design, but Mary McDermot-Castro felt the design was not in keeping with the neighborhood, even with the mix of styles on that part of Federal Street.

The neighbors said they wanted more time to review the design before they could feel comfortable with it. They had received the notification on Monday, Aug. 14, giving them little time to respond except at the meeting, they said. Primeau said he would spend the next couple of months sitting down with neighbors to hammer out a design that would be acceptable to all of them, within the limits of what Habitat for Humanity can afford. The discussion was tabled until Oct. 5.

The commission approved a separate request from Habitat, regarding a shed at 144 Federal St. Habitat had sold the property and agreed to move the shed, due to a new property line. When the shed was being moved, it became unusable, and Primeau offered to replace it. He received approval to put the new shed on the property.

The commission unanimously approved a certificate of appropriateness for Brad Sevaldson and Greg Uthoff to replace their windows on the upper floors at 72 Main St. with a three-up, one-down style; and approved Jennifer Morgan’s certificate of appropriateness. Morgan plans to enlarge the front porch at 1 Union St. to hide a water drainage system, and replace a garage window with a door. Linda Thomas’s application for a project at 10 Danforth St. was approved, as well. The project includes structural repairs to fix the roof line.