Diana Sterne spent her afternoon at the Cape Elizabeth dump, where she resolved to stay until she collected enough signatures to fill her petition sheet. Sterne and other members of the Neighbors for Sensible Development made a final push to gather enough signatures to present a petition to change zoning ordinances before the Dec. 20 public hearing for the Spurwink Woods development project.

Sterne’s home is on the corner of Mitchell and Columbus Roads, and said that though she won’t be directly affected by the development, she is collecting signatures to help out her neighbors. “It’s a very quiet neighborhood,” she said “it’s a shame to have to change the nature.”

The proposed zoning change would prevent the creation of short-cut streets in Cape Elizabeth, which the citizen group considers a threat to their way of life.

Ray Haversat of Lydon Lane initially refused Sterne’s request to sign the petition, thinking that supporting the petition could endanger his own neighborhood. “I live in the other neighborhood that they’re going to go through if they don’t go through hers,” he said.

After listening to Sterne explain that the zoning change would protect all neighborhoods from “short-cut” streets, he signed willingly, though he was skeptical about its potential effectiveness.

Cape resident Nancy Wentworth complained in an email correspondence to Maureen O’Meara that developer Jim McFarlane was using “scare tactics” with “threats” to develop other neighborhoods if the Spurwink Woods project is blocked.

Town Planner Maureen O’Meara said that these are not scare tactics, but reality.

The Spurwink Woods proposal was accepted as complete at the Planning Board’s Nov. meeting. Final approval could be three months or more down the road, said O’Meara.

Though the proposal has been accepted as complete and is on its way to approval under current zoning ordinances, the Neighbors for Sensible Development could still stymie the project. “It’s all a question of timing,” said O’Meara.

Assuming that the petitioners gathered the 767 signatures required to request a zoning change, and that the zoning change was then adopted, there is still a question of retroactivity. Could the new ordinance be applied retroactively to the project? O’Meara said that the only law governing retroactivity in ordinance changes to contracts is case law. In the Portland Fisherman’s Wharf referendum,

The Spurwink Woods subdivision is a proposed 42-unit development on 26 acres located between Spurwink Avenue and Mitchell Road. The neighbors are primarily opposing the creation of what they describe as a short-cut road, linking Dermot Drive and Killdeer Road, which are currently dead-end roads.

The Neighbors for Sensible Development argue that this road will transform their quiet low-traffic neighborhoods into through-ways for the entire town.

“Connectivity may be a good theory for a town,” said Stephen Osborne in an email correspondence to O’Meara, “but to the residents of long-standing neighborhoods, it is the end of our way of life.” Osborne has lived on Columbus Road since 1977.

Osborne’s sentiments are echoed by many who live in those neighborhoods. However, the planning boards actions are governed by ordinances, said O’Meara and the current ordinances require two entrance and exit points for safety purposes and to maintain traffic flow.

Last month the planning board commissioned an additional traffic study independent of the original traffic study provided by the developers. The study said O’Meara did not indicate that the disputed “short-cut” road is unsafe. The additional study did not defray neighbor dissatisfaction, but said O’Meara the planning board won’t change the proposal. “I don’t think the planning board is going to ignore the advice of its own experts, she said.

Richard Bryant, a Spurwink Ave. resident and lawyer drafted the proposed ordinance change. The new zoning would prohibit the creation of short-cut roads in Cape Elizabeth. O’Meara has said in the past that connectivity is part of the long-term plan for the town, and the adoption of this zoning change would be a step backwards.

Bryant also argued that the citizens initiative group is concerned about protecting vernal pools on the property, which he says should be protected as wetlands.

O’Meara said the vernal pools Bryant refers to do not exist. The development team was required to hire an expert to evaluate the property for wetlands issues said O’Meara and “he did not find vernal pools. The abutters, who are not experts, say there are vernal pools,” she said.

However, wetlands will be filled for this project said O’Meara. RP2 wetlands, which are categorized as less fragile and wet than RP1 wetlands, will be filled to construct a road for the subdivision.