Bangor sued for approving Aroma Joe’s on Hogan Road

A month after the city of Bangor approved the construction of an Aroma Joe’s, a neighbor is suing to try to stop the development.

The Bangor Planning Board approved the Aroma Joe’s at the northeast corner of Haskell and Hogan roads on Sept. 3. Hamover Associates, which owns a neighboring property, sued the city, asking a judge to stop the project in a filing Thursday in Penobscot County Superior Court.

If built, the Aroma Joe’s would be the first in Bangor. It’s being brought to the city by Brennan Development LLC, which is an interested party in the lawsuit but is not being sued.

The city’s decision to allow the Aroma Joe’s at that location negatively impacts Hamover’s property because there will be an increase of traffic and noise for tenants, the lawsuit said.

Hamover wants the court to find the city acted outside of its authority and vacate the approval, according to the lawsuit. If the court doesn’t find that, the lawsuit asks for the judge to have the city redo the traffic flow for the Aroma Joe’s property.

The city of Bangor had not been served the lawsuit, so it cannot comment, spokesperson David Warren said.

The site permit for the Aroma Joe’s property was originally issued for a different number of acres in 1992. The city failed to consider development on the adjoining property covered by the same permit, the lawsuit said.

Even if the city did not act improperly with site permitting, it failed to consider a proposed traffic pattern from the Maine Department of Transportation, according to the lawsuit. The failure to consider that pattern is a reversible error, the lawsuit said.

No future court dates are scheduled.