NEWS | Fate of UNE pier could be decided next week

The city’s attorney says next week’s Saco River Corridor Commission meeting could give the city clarity about whether to issue a building permit for the controversial project

By RANDY SEAVER | Editor

Next week’s meeting of the Saco River Corridor Commission could determine – once and for all – the fate of a controversial research pier that the University of New England wants to construct on the Saco River.

And it all comes down to an agreement made 25 years ago about a 250-foot buffer zone that prevents shoreline development on the school’s Biddeford campus.

**AN AERIAL PHOTO** shows the location of where UNE wants to build a 180-foot pier and float system on the Saco River. (*Photo courtesy of UNE*)

. . .

The university says the 250-foot buffer does not preclude “any and all” development. The school wants to clear several mature trees and construct an access road that would allow construction activity for the new pier to begin.

The ongoing debate has fractured the city’s relationship with the university, which also includes several key issues, such as the pier’s proposed location; how the city handled the project’s review process and the role of the city’s harbormaster.

But it is the unsettled legal mater about the 250-foot buffer that could derail or finally green-light construction of a 180-foot pier that was designed to meet the needs of UNE’s ongoing marine research efforts.

Just days after being sworn into office in December, Biddeford’s newly elected mayor and city council filed a complaint in York County Superior Court alleging that the Saco River Corridor Commission (SRCC) overlooked a previously-issued restriction that would prevent any development on UNE’s campus within 250-feet of the Saco River’s shoreline.

In their complaint to the Court, city officials point out that UNE agreed to the creation of a 250-foot shoreline buffer in exchange for a variance that would allow then to build two dormitory buildings that would exceed the city’s height restriction in 2001.

In March, Justice James F. Martemucci ruled against the city’s complaint because their case did not have standing due to [legal timing issues].

Two week’s later, the city council unanimously voted to appeal the Court’s decision and said no building permit for the pier would be issued until the Court rendered a final decision, despite the fact that Biddeford’s Planning Board had already voted to approve the project in August.

UNE officials cried foul, alleging that the city was attempting to retroactively derail the project after the November elections changed the city’s political landscape.

With all of their federal, state and local approvals in hand – and anxious to being work on the project — UNE appealed the city’s decision to not issue a building permit.

In May, the Biddeford Zoning Board of Appeals sided with the city and voted 2-1 to uphold the city’s decision to not issue a building permit until the 250-foot buffer question is settled by the court.

Two weeks later, the university filed its own lawsuit against the city, arguing that the city is simply maneuvering to retroactively block a project that was already approved by the planning board and other agencies.

Although the Saco River Corridor Commission (SRCC) already voted to approve the pier, the university now needs an extension of the original approval that was granted in August 2024.

Cherie Dunning, the SRCC’s executive director, told the Gazette in October that her agency made a mistake by overlooking the 250-foot buffer that was created in 2001.

Dunning described the mistake as “omission of relevant information” during her agency’s initial review of UNE’s proposed pier.

In October, Dunning said nothing could be done to fix the situation because the standard 30-day appeal window had come and gone.

The SRCC is a quasi-state agency that includes representatives from every Maine municipality that touches the Saco River.

Dunning told the Gazette that her agency has been “overwhelmed” by the number of applications filed by the university over the last few years, describing the agency’s workload as an “administrative burden.”

. . .

‘Some needed clarity in an odyssey of interaction’

**LOTS OF PUBLIC CONCERN** | Just days before a new mayor and city council was elected, a large group of Biddeford residents filled the city council chamber to air their grievances about how the city handled the review of a controversial pier that the University of New England hopes to build on the Saco River (*File photo by Randy Seaver*)

. . .

Next week — on July 2 — the SRCC will review the permit it issued to UNE in 2024 and decide whether to issue a necessary extension or reconsider its previous approval.

According to City Attorney Harry Center, the SRCC’s decision next week will likely guide the council’s decision about whether to grant UNE’s building permit.

On Tuesday, the Biddeford City Council voted unanimously to give Center authorization to speak on the city’s behalf during the SRCC’s July 2 meeting.

Center told the council that he would not be advocating or taking sides at the SRCC meeting. Instead, he said he will be there to offer an explanation of the city’s concerns about the 250-foot buffer and whether that restriction should be enforced in this latest application.

“We want to turn the temperature down. The rhetoric on both sides is getting out of hand.” — City Attorney Harry Center

Center said the central issue is not about whether the university should build a research pier in its proposed location.

“This is not anti-pier,” Center said. “This is about transparency. This is about process. This is an opportunity for us to get some clarity, and we will accept the SRCC’s final decision.”

Councilor Lisa Vadnais said she was relieved that the city is now focused on just the 250-foot buffer issue.

“That [the buffer] is what we should be focused on, nothing more and nothing less,” Vadnais said on Tuesday, despite concerns she raised during her campaign for a seat on the city council.

In October — just days before the city’s biennial municipal election — Vadnais attended a special citizens’ grievance meeting about UNE’s proposed pier.

At that time, Vadnais expressed concern about why the city’s harbormaster was removed from the review process.

“After hearing from the citizens, there is no doubt the entire process was handled badly,” Vadnais told the Gazette after the October meeting. “I do not feel it was in the best interest to remove the harbormaster from a process that would have benefited greatly by his expertise.”

Mayor Liam LaFountain told the council on Tuesday that the city is simply seeking clarity in what has become an “odyssey of interaction” between the city and the university.

LaFountain said legal issues could take months or years before the city has an answer about whether it is appropriate to issue the building permit.

Some of UNE’s most vocal opponents say they will be watching the SRCC very closely next week.

John Shafer, a Hills Beach resident who resigned his seat as chair of the city’s harbor commission last year, asked the SRCC to schedule a full public hearing on UNE’s extension request.

The SRCC denied Shafer’s request, saying a public hearing requires at least 10 days of notice, so there is not enough time between the commission’s scheduled meetings on June 24 and July 2.

For his part, Center says he has “no agenda,” and is simply trying to provide clarity for the city council.

Alan Thibeault, UNE’s vice president of operations, attended Tuesday’s city council meeting but declined to comment for this story, pointing out that the issue is still pending before the Court.

. . .

Local Journalism Thrives When Community Stands Behind It

DONATE TO SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM

This story brought to you by the generous support of our readers and these local businesses