Developer asks city to help keep Munjoy Hill noise down

Seeks license agreement to minimize construction din

A simple agreement with the City of Portland would eliminate the need for pile driving. This video explains how soil nails would be used instead.

(Portland, Maine) The city of Portland has been asked to approve a license agreement that would enable construction crews to avoid several months of piercing and reverberating steel pile driving, likely to disturb a tightly packed Munjoy Hill neighborhood.

Sheridan Heights Realty is fully permitted to build 19 condominiums on a steep hillside that sits just below Fort Sumner Park, at 155 Sheridan Street. Because of the steep grade at the site, earth stabilization is required before the foundation for the building is poured. Site work has begun and construction is imminent. The project has the green light to proceed but driving steel piles into the ground is required to finish earth stabilization. Pile driving would last for several months and require a constant and loud rhythmic pounding that would reverberate through the neighborhood.

The developer has submitted amended documents to the city and is proposing to use “soil nails” instead of pile driving. Using soil nails would eliminate pile driving from the construction schedule, but there’s a hitch. In a section of the site, the nails would need to be driven under Fort Sumner Park, which is city property. Doing so would not affect use of the park or any future construction that the city may have planned, but permission is required. The developer has asked that the city approve a license agreement that would enable site preparation to proceed without pile driving.

Sheridan Heights Realty has produced a short video that explains the construction challenge, and the proposed alternative.

“Using soil nails is a little more expensive, but Sumner Heights Realty wants to help out the neighbors. They’d love to eliminate the headache of too much noise for too long a stretch of time,” said Mark Robinson, a spokesperson for the development company. “We will keep the neighbors informed as the alternate solution makes its way through the city’s review process.”

Robinson said Portland’s planning staff has been “very responsive” to communications about the request for a license agreement. The planning department needs to review the proposal, as does the parks commission. Ultimately the city council would need to vote on whether to approve the request for a license agreement.

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January 2022: Work at 155 Sheridan Street has already begun on this fully-permitted project.