SOUTH PORTLAND — A controversial proposal to build a liquefied petroleum gas depot at Rigby Yard doesn’t comply with existing zoning ordinances, the city’s code enforcement director ruled Friday.

It’s a sudden shift – nearly one year into a divisive and complicated review process – that city officials say they made after taking a closer look at municipal laws and gaining better understanding of propane delivery.

Patricia Doucette's letter on propane plan

Opponents of NGL Supply Terminal Co.’s proposal sought a moratorium because they wanted city officials to study the potential public safety impacts of a propane depot at Rigby Yard in South Portland.

The trackside facility sought by NGL Terminal Supply Co. would greatly exceed a fuel storage limit of 10,000 cubic feet or 74,805 gallons of liquid propane, according to Code Enforcement Director Patricia Doucette.

“NGL will need to amend its site plan application to comply with (zoning) if it wants the Planning Board review process to proceed further,” Doucette wrote in a letter sent Friday to a company representative.

Doucette’s ruling is the latest twist in a nearly year-old controversy over NGL’s proposal to move its propane depot from the Portland waterfront to the railroad yard off Route 1, between the Thornton Heights and Cash Corner neighborhoods. NGL is a subsidiary of NGL Energy Partners of Tulsa, Oklahoma, which includes Brunswick-based Downeast Energy.

Faced with community opposition, NGL submitted a scaled-back proposal in September that did little to satisfy opponents but appeared to be headed for a public hearing in February.

As proposed, the 10-acre depot would have one fixed 24,000-gallon storage tank where propane delivery trucks would be filled, as well as track queuing space for 16 full and eight empty rail tank cars that carry 30,000 gallons each. When operating at maximum capacity, the depot would contain as much as 504,000 gallons of propane, more than six times the amount allowed under the ordinance.

Doucette issued her formal ruling at the urging of City Manager Jim Gailey and in concert with Tex Haeuser, planning and development director, and Stephen Puleo, community planner, all of whom have been reviewing NGL’s proposal since last February. The letter also was drafted with help from Sally Daggett, city attorney, and rooted in a consultant’s analyses of the city’s fuel storage ordinances, with input from community members, Haeuser said.

“The ordinance is so poorly written, with convoluted language,” Haeuser said. “We had to be educated.”

Opponents of the NGL proposal were celebrating Friday.

“I’m delighted that the residents and businesses surrounding Rigby Yard will not have to live in fear of a catastrophic explosion in their future,” City Councilor Brad Fox said in a prepared statement. “The hard work of many concerned citizens in South Portland has won them another remarkable victory against a petroleum industry that could care less about people or the environment.”

NGL representatives expressed frustration and disappointment at the city’s flailing review of the depot proposal. NGL plans to challenge Doucette’s ruling before the city’s Board of Appeals and submit additional information to demonstrate compliance with the ordinance, said Kevin Fitzgerald, regional operations manager.

“Coming a few short weeks after our application was deemed complete, Ms. Doucette’s letter represents another unfortunate attempt to change the rules mid-stream,” Fitzgerald said in a prepared statement. “These are precisely the sorts of issues that the Planning Board process is designed to address. However, for nearly seven months we’ve been systemically denied the opportunity to present our proposal and answer any questions.”

NGL wants to build the $3 million depot because the company must leave its existing location on Commercial Street in Portland by next spring, when the state plans to start expanding the International Marine Terminal.

As NGL prepares to push forward, opponents pledge to keep fighting. The Planning Board is scheduled to hold a public hearing Tuesday on a proposed moratorium on the development of propane storage and distribution facilities. The meeting is at 7 p.m. at the South Portland Community Center. City officials also are considering fire code amendments that would further control where propane distribution facilities could be built.

“Our work protecting our residents is not done,” Fox said. “We intend to push ahead with our fire code amendment and our moratorium to insure that no company will ever build a dangerous (propane) facility in Rigby Yard. We’re pleased to win the battle, but we’ll continue to fight until we win the war.”

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