FREEPORT – Town councilors were unaware – and some were unconcerned – that a proposed indoor-outdoor soccer complex would require a major zoning change when they decided last year to provide town-owned land for the now-controversial project.

That’s the clearest bit of information that came out of a Town Council workshop Tuesday night with the Save Our Neighborhoods Coalition.

The council called the workshop to address the coalition’s concerns about Seacoast United Maine’s proposal to build a $4 million soccer complex on town-owned land near Hedgehog Mountain.

“I was not specifically aware of the zoning change that was necessary,” Councilor Sara Gideon told more than 80 people gathered at the community center on Depot Street.

Some coalition members were surprised that the council would give 12 acres of land to the soccer club, in exchange for some public field use, without knowing whether the project met town zoning regulations.

“That’s really basic stuff,” said Guy Quattrucci, a coalition member.

Coalition members also questioned why neighbors weren’t notified before town officials began negotiating with Seacoast and why some town officials have actively promoted the soccer complex.

The coalition formed in November, after the Planning Board recommended that the council reject zoning changes needed to build the soccer complex in a rural residential district. The facility would include an indoor arena containing three soccer fields and draw more than 100 cars per hour during peak use.

After Tuesday’s meeting, councilors Rich DeGrandpre, Charlotte Bishop and Chairman Jim Cassida said they also didn’t know when they voted that the complex was prohibited in a rural residential zone. DeGrandpre and Bishop said they figured any problems would be fereted out by Seacoast during its due-diligence process. Cassida said he thought the project’s biggest challenge would be getting environmental permits.

Two former councilors, Joe Migliaccio and Eric Pandora, said after the meeting that they asked Town Manager Dale Olmstead and inquired at council meetings whether a zoning change was needed. Migliaccio said he was told no. Pandora said he never got a clear answer.

Olmstead said after Tuesday’s meeting that it’s typical to leave zoning questions to be answered after reaching a land sale agreement. Seacoast began negotiating with town officials in the fall of 2009 and the council approved a draft sale agreement in April 2011.

Tuesday’s meeting was moderated by a local professional facilitator, Lesa Andreasen, who charged the town a discounted rate of $75 for the two-hour workshop.

“I thought having somebody other than the council manage the discussion would be much more productive,” Cassida said before the workshop.

The meeting went pretty smoothly. DeGrandpre became visibly agitated a few times, saying at one point that it was “frustrating” that some people were being “accusatory” about the council’s actions and motivations.

Lucy Lloyd, a coalition leader, became confrontational at the end of the meeting, when Seacoast spokesman Mike Healy tried to explain the need for the soccer complex.

Lloyd and several others said they support the complex, but she and most of them said it should be built in a commercial zone.

The council had planned to hold a workshop next Tuesday with Seacoast representatives, but the meeting has been postponed to give them more time to consider alternative sites in Freeport and other towns.

 

Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at: kbouchard@pressherald.com

 

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