City attorney finds new info, says UNE pier should go back to planning board
By RANDY SEAVER, Editor
Biddeford City Attorney Harry Center says that the Biddeford Planning Board should reconsider its prior approval of the University of New England’s controversial research pier.
Although the planning board narrowly approved the university’s proposal in August, Center now says the Planning Board should reconsider that approval based on new information that came to light a few weeks ago.
As first reported in the Biddeford Gazette, the Saco River Corridor Commission (SRCC) failed to consider a previous ruling that created a 250-foot, no-development, vegetative buffer zone on the university’s campus in 2001.
The SRCC described the error as “an oversight” and said nothing could be done to rectify that agency’s decision to approve the project last year.
Shortly after the Planning Board approved the controversial project, a group of residents filed an appeal with the Biddeford Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA).
The ZBA is expected to take up the matter at its next meeting on Thursday.
Center, representing the city’s Planning Board, filed a request Monday with the ZBA on behalf of the planning board and Biddeford’s planning department.
Center also discovered that the permit issued to UNE by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may have expired.
“In the last 10 days, far too many
— City Attorney Harry Center
legal questions have been raised.”
A university spokesperson said the permit they received from the Army Corps is still in effect, and said the 250-foot no-development zone does not preclude appropriately permitted development.
Sarah Delage, vice president for communications at UNE, said the university received clarification from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in August that their permit remains in effect.
“The project was required to start prior to October 14, 2025, and the [Army Corps] has confirmed that the design and permitting process, which was underway well before that date, satisfies this condition.
Delage also said that “there is no inconsistency between UNE’s master plan –which was previously approved by the Biddeford Planning Board — and development within this buffer zone.
When asked about the legality of the SRCC’s permit, Delage said the SRCC’s executive director recently clarified that the approval remains valid and is neither under review nor in question at the SRCC office.
“The [SRCC] executive director sent her letter after consulting with the Maine Assistant Attorney General, who represents the SRCC,” Delage said.
“The university has carefully followed all legal and regulatory processes in permitting the project, and looks forward to continuing to do so,” she added.
Center said he has also researched prior versions of UNE’s master plan, and that those records reveal “that the University of New England’s master plan also references a 250-foot, no-development buffer.”
Red Flags Raised
Center said major red flags were then raised when Cheri Dunning, the executive director of the Saco River Corridor Commission (SRCC), wrote an unsolicited letter on October 20 to Roby Fecteau, Biddeford’s code enforcement officer.
In that letter to Fecteau, Dunning created the impression that the SRCC — while issuing UNE a permit for the pier — had deliberately overridden the 2001 order creating the buffer. She implied that present-day commissioners consciously intended to create new law. “The condition was created by, and thus can be altered by, the Commission,” she wrote.
Dunning specifically stated that the 2001 order was not discussed during the SRCC hearing. The current commissioners absolutely did not engage in any deliberative process to override the law created in 2001, according to the minutes from the August 2024 meeting.
Since the buffer was never even mentioned, the commissioners were flying blind, Center said.
“My legal analysis is that the order creating the 250-foot buffer remains in place, at least until the Attorney General’s office tells us that it has been rescinded by the commission,” Center said.
“The university has carefully followed
— Sarah Delage, UNE spokesperson
all legal and regulatory processes
in permitting the project, and
looks forward to continuing to do so.”
Center said the ZBA has the jurisdiction to send UNE’s application back to the planning board, and given all the new information that has surfaced, it should do so.
Furthermore, Center said the city may ask a judge to overrule the SRCC’s approval of a permit for UNE’s pier, and recent statements by Dunning that the 250-foot buffer and other SRCC decisions can be ignored by regulatory authorities.
“In the last 10 days, far too many legal questions have been raised,” he said.
Center said he has the full support of Mayor Martin Grohman and the Biddeford City Council to advise the ZBA as he did today.
Last week, the Biddeford City Council unanimously voted to seek clarification and guidance from the Maine Attorney General’s office regarding the 250-foot buffer zone.
The council’s resolution stated that the city “will withhold further permitting or authorization related to the proposed UNE pier to ensure full compliance with applicable state law.”
Center says he firmly stands by his previous legal advice on other issues related to UNE’s application.
“I have one duty, and that is to properly advise my client on legal issues at all times. New information has come to light, and I’ll continue to execute my professional responsibilities accordingly,” Center said.
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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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