By RANDY SEAVER, Editor
Despite the impassioned pleas of some nuns from the St. Joseph’s Convent, the Biddeford City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to enact a temporary development moratorium on the University of New England’s Biddeford campus.
As previously reported in the Gazette, Mayor Liam LaFountain proposed the moratorium and the creation of an ad-hoc committee in order to give the city time and flexibility to review and consider several significant developments planned by the university.
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Although not located on their campus, it was recently revealed that the university had ongoing plans to purchase the St. Joseph’s Convent in order to redevelop that property into additional student housing. The convent is located approximately two miles west of UNE’s main campus.
Representatives from the Good Sheperd Sisters of Quebec – the current convent owners — attended Tuesday’s meeting, saying the proposed moratorium would quash their planned sale of the convent to UNE. That sale, according to the Sisters, has been in consideration since 2017 and was scheduled to be finalized next month.
The Sisters said they can no longer afford to operate the convent. They said the moratorium would be “devastating psychologically, physically and spiritually.”
During their discussion of the issue, Councilor Jake Pierson pointed out that the moratorium would do “nothing to prevent the sale of that property.” The moratorium, he said, would only pause the university’s planned redevelopment of the property.
Although the university does not yet own the St. Joseph’s parcel, they already received approval of their reconversion plan from the Saco River Corridor Commission in November.
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Former city councilor Kyle Noble told the council that UNE is pushing for projects that would be “once in a lifetime, forever decisions” that warrant careful review.
“I find it offensive that this real estate transaction has been known since 2017, and we’re just finding out about it now,” Noble said.
Councilor Dylan Doughty also expressed surprise that the university was able to get approval of their plan from the Saco River Corridor Commission before they actually owned the property.
Alan Thibeault, vice president of operations at UNE, said the city’s proposed moratorium took school officials “by surprise.”
Thibeault told the council that UNE has not built a new building on its campus since 2018. He made no mention of the controversial, large-scale pier that the university is planning to construct on the Saco River. He also did not talk about the school’s plan to add new student housing at the St. Joseph’s convent.
Instead, Thibeault reminded the council that UNE is “a major employer and economic driver” in Biddeford. “We do not believe that we have been a burden on the city,” Thibeault said, pointing out that UNE has its own wastewater treatment facility.
Furthermore, Thibeault said the university has significantly decreased its impact on the city by its decision three years ago to move roughly 360 students and 120 staffers to the school’s Portland campus that now houses UNE’s medical school programs. That move, he said, significantly reduced traffic and other impacts at the Biddeford campus.
Thibeault said the moratorium could place the university at financial risk. He said colleges and universities across the country are closing at a rate of one per month because of changing demographics.
Councilor Brad Cote, however, balked at Thibeault’s concerns about the economic impacts of the moratorium.
“I find it a little offensive that the university would come to us and express financial worries,” Cote said. “Let’s remember that their campus in Biddeford sits on land that has an assessed value of roughly $82 million.”
Thibeault said UNE appreciated that its president – James Hebert – was appointed to the city’s newly created ad-hoc committee.
“We welcome a genuine relationship with the city,” Thibeault told the council.
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Randy Seaver is the editor and founder of the Biddeford Gazette. He may be reached by email: randy@randyseaver.com
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