CAMDEN — A near-institution at the intersection of Union, Belmont and Wood streets in Camden has been sold to a neighbor whose plans for the property don't involve towing and repairing cars and trucks. As of March 15, the Hearst family is the new owner of Steve and Jackie Laite's property at 1 Union St., home to an Exxon station for nearly 40 years.

Steve Laite said when he started working at what is now Camden Exxon, in 1977, it was called Seaview Exxon.

"Bob Oxton was my boss for a while. That's when the name turned over to Camden Exxon, when Bob took over," said Laite. "All that time, the physical property was owned by either Superior Oil or Dead River Oil, then one bought the other out. Then when they merged with Mobil, they wanted to sell the property to me and I said, yeah I'll take it. That was 18 years ago; I have owned the business since 1986."

The sale of the property came up unexpectedly, said Laite, as it never got to the point of being officially listed.

"I was approached by a realtor, who came in with an offer," said Laite.

Laite declined to discuss the sale price, but said he was "happy with the offer" and accepted it.

They closed on the sale March 15, and Laite said he and his family will be moving the towing business to the property he and his wife purchased on West Street (Route 90) in Rockport.

Per the purchase and sale terms, they will be moved out of 1 Union Street by the end of March.

Laite will be leaving behind a tiny .45 acre parcel on which he managed to squeeze a lot of vehicles at times, on a well-traveled part of town that also, at times, drew the scrutiny and ire of neighbors. On the flip side, he will be relocating the work he does towing and providing accident removal services for police departments, insurance companies and AAA to his 4.5-acre parcel in Rockport.

From that location, he will also continue to provide lockout, jump start, flat tire and winch services, among other on-the-go services. The larger property will also provide enough room to store towed vehicles from the surrounding towns he serves, whereas before he was storing vehicles from Camden and Lincolnville on Union Steet, and vehicles from Rockport and Rockland on West Street.

Laite said he will also continue to provide space and vehicles for local access team training, with the first one happening March 23 for Rockport Fire Department. Laite himself has been a long-standing emergency access team member, and trainer.

"There will be more room over there [Rockport] to do the access training, while here on Union Street, we have had to park the fire trucks wherever they would fit, in case there was a call during training. Tomorrow night we will be working on two cars at once, which we couldn’t do before," said Laite. "Not to mention people every once in a while asking why I had to have all these 'messy' cars here in Camden."

That's just the sort of thing that Jason Hearst, as the purchaser and an adjacent neighbor to Camden Exxon, hopes to eliminate now. But it's more than just the aesthetics, he said.

"I don't have any firm plans for the property," said Hearst. "The overall vision, which I'm excited about, is to have a functional space that is aesthetically beautiful for the town and the neighborhood. In the short term, it is going to serve as an art studio space for me and my family."

The 1 Union St. parcel is in Camden's Downtown Business District (B1) Zone, which includes a variety of residential and accessory uses, as well as municipal, institutional, commercial, professional services and industrial uses. The assessed value for tax purposes, according to the town's online assessing data, totals $319,700, which includes $209,300 for the land, $85,100 for the main building and $25,300 for an outbuilding and other extras.

Laite said that the former fuel tanks were removed from the property 10-11 years ago, and that the state Department of Environmental Protection gave the parcel a "clean bill of health."

Related link:

• Steve and Jackie Laite are back running Camden Exxon (May 2016)

Reach Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6655.