HOULTON, Maine — The owner of a Houlton cinema said Thursday afternoon that he was “elated” after a deal was negotiated to sell his controversial parking lot adjacent to the theater to a rural community development corporation that also owns a nearby senior citizen housing complex.
The sale should bring to an end a more than year long struggle Charles Fortier, the owner of Temple Cinema, has had with members of the public using the private lot without paying parking fees to help him maintain it or clear it of snow in the winter.
“The paperwork was completed just hours ago,” Fortier said Thursday afternoon of the sale. “It has been sold to Coastal Enterprises Inc., and I am very happy that the transaction has been completed.”
Coastal Enterprises Inc, or CEI, is a Brunswick-based firm that works to grow good jobs and environmentally sustainable enterprises in Maine, according to its website. The corporation has offices across the state and also owns Market Square Commons, a 28 unit apartment building that opened in Houlton in 2010. Part of the adjoining parking lot already was owned by the housing complex and used by residents. John Egan, senior vice president of loans and development for CEI, said Thursday that the company does not plan to build on the newly purchased portion of the lot and will continue to use it as a parking option for residents of Market Square Commons.
“We have enough parking spaces for our residents right now, but expanding the lot will allow more visitors to the complex to have a place to park,” he said. “We just wanted additional access.”
Egan declined to disclose the purchase price for the parking lot.
Fortier, 56, a Houlton native, businessman and writer, moved back to Aroostook County from New Jersey last year after purchasing the theater property. The sale included the cinema, assessed at $203,000, according to Houlton tax documents, and a majority of the adjacent parking lot, which is valued at $32,700.
Last July, Fortier approached the Town Council with an offer to sell the parking lot for its assessed value. Fortier also offered to let the town pay him interest free, $4,500 per year over a seven-year period. He suggested that the lot could be used by the town to alleviate complaints by citizens that there is often a lack of available parking spaces in Market Square. There already is ample parking in Market Square for theatergoers, Fortier said, so owning the lot was not vital to the success of his business.
Councilors declined the offer, however, after Town Manager Butch Asselin said that if the town were to purchase it and make it a paid lot, it would be the only such lot in the community. Asselin also said ownership would make the town responsible for removing snow and painting the lines.
Fortier said that he waited a few months before approaching the town again and dropping the price by ten percent, but his offer did not generate interest.
Last fall, Fortier closed one side of the lot and posted that section to indicate parking would be allowed by permit only for $60 per vehicle per year. He then began ticketing vehicles that were in the lot without a permit. He also put up warning signs alerting drivers entering the parking the lot that he would apply a boot, or immobilization device, to any vehicle whose owner violated the parking ban, and that he would charge violators to remove the boot.
Fortier said his actions generated anger among some residents, who ripped up their tickets and refused to pay them. The owner then appealed to the community in general on social media, soliciting feedback on what to do to about the issue. Most respondents identified the cinema as a vital part of both the town and integral to the success of Market Square, and were receptive to his idea of raising movie ticket prices by 50 cents so that he could open the lot for free.
He said he was considering that idea and a few others before he sold the lot Thursday.
Egan said that the Temple lot will generate some income from KeyBank, which leases 10 parking spaces for its employees. He added that CEI is considering offering free parking on the lot during the day for visitors to downtown Houlton.
