The City Council voted unanimously Monday for a moratorium on developments next to public parks on the East End – a move designed to protect a panoramic view of the city from Munjoy Hill.

The moratorium, proposed by District 1 City Councilor Belinda Ray, will expire Feb. 6, giving staff time to determine whether additional rules need to be enacted to prevent developments from negatively affecting public parks.

“Taking this small pause in a small area will allow us to get ahead so we can be proactive going forward,” Ray said.

Although several councilors said they generally don’t support moratoriums, they decided to back Ray’s proposal because it would only last 60 days and only targets one area of the city.

It also differs from a previous effort to protect views of the eastern waterfront, said City Councilor Jill Duson. “I think this is a unique circumstance,” Duson said. “I think there’s a difference between using government to protect public views from development than using government to protect private views.”

The moratorium is a response to a condominium project contemplated for Sheridan Street that, as originally proposed, would have blotted out the view of Back Cove from Fort Sumner Park. The 1.25-acre park on North Street offers sweeping westward views of the city, Back Cove and Mount Washington and is a popular place for viewing sunsets.

Bernie Saulnier of Saulnier Development first met with neighborhood leaders last summer to discuss his plans for a six-story, 65,000-square-foot building at 155 Sheridan St. Opposition was immediate, prompting residents to collect petition signatures and call on the city to designate the park, originally the site of an earth-and-timber fort built in 1794 to defend Portland Harbor and the Back Cove, a historic landmark.

Saulnier, who has the Sheridan Street property under a purchase contract, continued to meet with board members of the Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Organization and eventually agreed to eliminate 3,000 square feet from the upper three floors. But that design still would have blocked the view of the northernmost portion of Back Cove.

Another revision reinstated a full fourth floor while scaling back the upper two floors even further, but the design still appears to block views of Mount Washington.

Saulnier recently signaled a willingness to build a four-story building to preserve the view, but councilors pushed forward with the moratorium, which was opposed by the Portland Community Chamber of Commerce.

“We have a problem and concern simply by dictating zoning by moratorium,” said Chris Quint, the chamber’s City Hall liaison.

Saulnier told the council that he already has invested $100,000 in the project, which he hopes to get underway this spring, and that he has eliminated nearly a dozen units from the original 34-unit proposal.

“I’m starting to get confused about what the process is in Portland,” Saulnier said. “I don’t know how to go forward. This is new to me.”

The moratorium was favored by most of the speakers during a 30-minute public hearing.

Deering Street resident Keri Lord said Portland is developing faster than she’s ever seen in her 40 years in the city. She is worried that pace will eventually destroy what makes the city special – from its natural, oceanside beauty to its historical architecture.

“Obviously we want to keep Portland what Portland is,” Lord said. “If we ruin that, we have kind of killed the golden goose.”

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