The Planning Board has done a preliminary review of a proposed residential subdivision, Sawyer Estates, that will add 121 homes off of South Street. In 2003, Chase Custom Homes purchased a 41.14 acre parcel on South Street for $850,000, as well as a 22 acre parcel on Waterhouse Road, which also sold for $850,000. In 2005, Chase purchased an additional 42.64 acres adjacent to the 41 acre parcel for $100,000. A portion of this parcel has wetlands which cannot be used for housing. While the two properties are adjacent to each other on the west side of the rotary, Crestwood Drive splits them in the middle. One of the parcels backs up to the Heartwood subdivision, and Chase is proposing to connect streets to that neighborhood.

Zoning rules permit 54 homes to be built on this combined property and would also require that the subdivision be connected to city water and sewer and have a pumping station. Chase Custom Homes is proposing to build an additional 67 homes on this site. These additional, or bonus units, would require that Chase Custom Homes pay the Town of Gorham $15,000 per unit (or just over $1,000,000) with the money being used to purchase or protect open space elsewhere in Gorham. Plans call for lots between 8,500-15,000 sq. ft. each.

A number of issues will need resolution before the project gains approval, and it will require input from both the Department of Environmental Protection as well as the Department of Transportation.