Riley Stevens, center, portions the dough in the back of Pizza by Alex in Biddeford on Monday. The Biddeford City Council is expected to vote Tuesday on whether a Domino’s Pizza can move directly across the street from the small pizzeria that has been a local favorite for 65 years. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Two Biddeford pizzerias are at odds, but it’s not over who serves the best pie in town.

Pizza by Alex, a Biddeford mainstay for 64 years, and Domino’s Pizza soon could be neighbors, and neither restaurant is particularly happy about it.

The Biddeford City Council on Tuesday is expected to vote on a zoning change that would allow Domino’s to move a half mile across town from 111 Elm St. to 118 Alfred Road, right near Pizza by Alex.

But Domino’s owner Tiffani Ruszenas isn’t moving by choice. 

The Maine Department of Transportation is seizing the property by eminent domain in order to redo Biddeford’s Elm Street corridor. 

Domino’s Pizza will be demolished to make way for a reconfiguration and extension of Pearl Street that will create a four-way intersection at Pearl, Elm and Spruce streets. 

The Elm Street Corridor Improvement Project extends the length of Elm Street, which is also Route 1, from Main Street in Biddeford to Pine Street in Saco. The plan is still in design, and construction likely won’t begin until late 2026. 

Tuesday’s council meeting is the second of two to discuss a required zoning amendment for the vacant building where Domino’s wants to relocate.

David Galbraith, the Biddeford city planner, said the property is unusual in that the surrounding buildings on two sides have the zoning it’s seeking – which allows restaurants – and buildings on the other two sides have the existing zoning, which does not. The street is essentially split down the middle.

In June, Councilor Doris Ortiz said she was concerned the business doesn’t fit the character of the neighborhood, which is largely residential, with commercial businesses that keep more office-adjacent hours. 

“To me it doesn’t fit the character and aesthetics,” she said. 

The owner of Pizza by Alex in Biddeford says allowing Domino’s to move in across the street would harm her business and degrade the city’s downtown character. The owner of the Domino’s said they have to move because the city and Department of Transportation are taking their current building by eminent domain to rebuild an intersection. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

But Galbraith says that from a land-use perspective, the change makes sense.

“I have to look at it as a restaurant. I can’t say, ‘Oh, this is a national chain, we don’t want national chains in the downtown,’ ” he said on Monday.

If a business is going to be displaced because of planned traffic upgrades, the city has a responsibility to work with the business to find a new location – whether it’s a national chain or not.

“We don’t like losing anyone,” he said. “We need to look out for our local businesses and support them any way we can.”

He argued that despite being part of a larger company, Domino’s is still a local business.

‘A CULTURAL CONCERN’

But Steph Mantis, the current owner of Pizza by Alex, objects to relocating the Domino’s so close to her shop, which has been in the Mantis family since it opened in 1960 and has been in the Alfred Road building since 1968.

Ethan Laverriere, left, eats lunch with his parents Julie and Richard Laverriere at Pizza by Alex in Biddeford on Monday. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

It has remained stalwart as the city has worked, over the years, to rebuild its reputation and transform the downtown from vacant to vibrant.

Local businesses, Mantis said, have been the cornerstone of that process, and the zoning change on the table feels like a move backward.

The piecemeal approach to zoning is a slippery slope, she said.

“I know on its face it’s about pizzerias,” she said. “But this is not a financial concern, it’s a cultural concern.”

Old photos on the wall at Pizza By Alex. The pizzeria that has been a Biddeford mainstay for 64 years. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Mantis isn’t worried about competition – Domino’s and Pizza by Alex cater to different clientele and there are plenty of pizza places in Biddeford, including Peng’s Pizza and Coletti’s Pizza Factory, which have attracted national buzz.

“I have no problem with Domino’s existing in the city,” Mantis said. “But the city rezoning a property to accommodate a national chain in the front yard of their local pizzeria” is shortsighted.

She worries about the traffic, about people using her parking lot, about who could move in if Domino’s leaves and what that could mean for the neighborhood.

“I am well aware that more restaurants equals more vitality and supports existing restaurants by expanding and aggregating a shared customer base. That might happen here, but the question is at what cost?” she wrote in a letter to the council. “Our downtown is notably not full of national chains or franchises. The city’s job, if they want to help, would be to find an appropriate venue where Domino’s can succeed without an adverse impact on the surrounding neighborhood.”

‘NOT A FACELESS CORPORATION’

Ruszenas understands why Pizza by Alex is upset – nobody wants a competitor across the street – but she didn’t have many options. She needed a standalone building with parking and there weren’t many locations that fit the bill. The proposed location is also closer to the University of New England, which accounts for the bulk of Domino’s orders.

And while Domino’s is a national chain, Ruszenas stressed that hers is still a local business.

“We are not a global conglomerate. … I’m not some faceless corporation,” she said.

Domino’s has been in Biddeford since the 1980s – she purchased the shop in 2015. She and her husband live in Kennebunk and are involved in the Biddeford community. Their three locations support about 100 employees.

If approved, this would be the second short move for Domino’s in five years.

Pizza by Alex has been in the same family since it opened in 1960 and has been in the Alfred Road building since 1968. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

The pizza franchise previously shared a space with Subway and Mullens Driving School just up the road, but moved into Rover Bagel’s former digs in late 2020.

At that time, the property would have already been earmarked for demolition, but Ruszenas said nobody told her until a few months ago.

“The town really dropped the ball on this,” she said.

Galbraith couldn’t speak to the mix-up. The project has been public for several years, he said, but Ruszenas bought this building before he or George Gervais, director of economic development and planning, joined the city staff.

Between the cost of the new building, the necessary renovations and permitting, Ruszenas estimated she’ll be out $500,000, even after the “fair property value” compensation required by eminent domain.

“I’m going to take a $500,000 loss because nobody said ‘Don’t buy this property,’” she said. “This could single-handedly tank my entire company.”

Ruszenas, 40, also owns the Kennebunk and Old Orchard Beach Domino’s locations, both of which she said rely on Biddeford’s steady year-round business to keep things going in the more seasonal towns.

“That’s my bread and butter,” she said.

If all goes smoothly, she hopes to be in the new location by the end of the year.

Ruszenas criticized the lack of communication through the process from both Biddeford and the Maine Department of Transportation, which she said “is destroying a local business and causing another problem for another local business.”