SCARBOROUGH — One of Scarborough’s largest landowners presented its final plan for a new beachfront park off Black Point Road to the Planning Board on Monday night.

Black Point Park would feature enough parking to accommodate 370 cars and have enough space on its beach for about 900 visitors at high tide, said representatives of the Sprague Corp.

Sprague owns the 64-acre parcel, which is adjacent to Scarborough Beach State Park, and would continue to own the park. The property includes about 1,700 feet of beachfront.

Planning Board members did not act on the proposal, instead promising a capacity crowd that they would take a cautious and measured approach before rendering a final decision.

“We as a board fully understand and appreciate the magnitude of the proposal that has been put before us,” Allen T. Paul, Planning Board chairman, told an audience of more than 70 people.

Monday’s gathering at the Scarborough Town Office was no different than some of the previous Zoning Board of Appeals meetings, when large crowds of opponents filled the Town Council chambers to speak against the project.

In May, the ZBA voted that the proposal meets the rules for a special exception as a commercial outdoor recreation development.

Sprague Corp. is now seeking site plan approval from the Planning Board, a step that Assistant Town Planner Jay Chace said could take several weeks or months to finalize.

“This is just the start of the site plan review process. We recognize that this is a very complex and, frankly, controversial item,” Chace said.

Chace said before Monday’s meeting that Sprague will not only need site plan approval from the town, but its plan must be reviewed by the Maine Department of Transportation, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Also pending is a lawsuit filed in Cumberland County Superior Court against the town and Sprague by a group of owners of nearby properties, who claim the project does not meet review standards for a special exception.

Chace said both sides have agreed to postpone court proceedings until the Planning Board makes its final decision.

Seth Sprague, spokesman for Sprague Corp. and Black Point Resource Management, which would manage the park, said they want to create more public access to Scarborough Beach.

Scarborough Beach State Park is often filled to capacity on hot summer days, with lines of traffic extending from the gatehouse to Black Point Road. Sprague Corp. manages the park for the state.

By creating a new park, Sprague said, the corporation should be able to manage Scarborough Beach State Park more efficiently. It also would fulfill the vision of his family, which has sought to preserve land and provide public access in Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth.

“We see this (new park) as a positive merging of our family and our corporation’s goals as well as the town’s desire to find new public access to the water,” Sprague said.

Terry DeWan, Sprague’s landscape architect, said it would take about two years to complete the project.

He said plans for fires and grilling have been dropped, due to neighbors’ concerns.

The new park would be open from May 1 to Oct. 15. Its operating hours would be 9 a.m. until sunset. Entry fees would be the same as those charged for the adjacent state park, which was $4.50 for an adult Maine resident this year.

DeWan said a management advisory committee, consisting of town officials, park officials and neighbors, would be created to ensure that Black Point Park is being managed well.

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at: dhoey@pressherald.com

 

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