Scarborough residents concerned about a proposed land swap in Pine Point will have another chance to speak out, the Town Council decided Wednesday after an at-times heated public comment session.

About 20 people from the Pine Point area spoke against swapping part of Depot Street for a parking strip owned by Lighthouse Motel owners Nick and Peter Truman.

The swap would give the Trumans a paved portion of Depot Street in front of their 22-unit condo building/hotel for expanded parking. The town would get the Trumans’ current parking strip, which is approximately 22.5 feet long, to create a public drop-off area, eliminating parking for cars on the side of the road.

Opponents of the plan said they worry the Trumans could expand their building, limiting beach views and destroying the dune grass. They also said they worried a drop-off area would create greater traffic congestion.

“The dune is a very sensitive habitat and cannot be disturbed,” said Pine Point Association member Judy Mushial. “This would provide them (the Trumans) with a private path to the beach and the only way they could do that is by removing dune grass.”

The council voted unanimously Wednesday to hold a second reading and a public hearing on the swap on July 15, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Town Council chambers at Town Hall.

Councilor Carol Rancourt, whose motion led the council to consider Wednesday night a first reading of the proposal and to schedule a public hearing with second reading in July, noted, “This is a big issue and shouldn’t be taken lightly. I want to be comfortable knowing that I made the right decision after hearing from the public and carefully considering what is before us.”

Council members agreed, but several noted they were prepared previously to approve the land swap, saying the issue had dragged on.

“I have seen debate go back and forth in written form, live form, in front of the Planning Board, and I’m convinced that we can wait five years, 10 years from now, and still be where we are now,” Town Council Chairman Michael Wood said.

Town Manager Tom Hall has had several meetings with the Trumans on the issue. Wednesday night was the first time a sketch plan of the proposal was made public.

Town officials said that any land swap deed would be restricted, meaning the Trumans would not be allowed to go ahead with any projects that could damage dune grasses or restrict public access to the beach.

District 127 Rep. Sean Flaherty, who represents Pine Point, urged the council to take more time before deciding.

“I just want to make sure that this council has a real understanding, and I think you do, that for the folks that we represent … there is considerable concern about public access and open process,” said Flaherty. “I urge this council, although I heard that you wanted to move quickly and get this over with, that the changes will be made permanent and those of us who plan to live in Scarborough for a long time … are concerned.”

John Thurlow, a member of the Pine Point Association, suggested the Town Council create a committee to study the proposal more before voting. The council did not discuss the committee option Wednesday night.

At the council’s June 3 meeting, the Pine Point Association accused Hall of conducting secret meetings with the Trumans regarding the swap, and criticized town officials for not having an open public process leading to Wednesday night’s meeting.

Thurlow said he understood that real estate negotiations took place away from the public, but the association objected to this practice.

“We have not had time to respond,” Thurlow said. “We got the plan and we had to respond as an association and as a group of people with very little detail.”

This is not the first time a proposal regarding the motel has upset Pine Point residents.

Five years ago the Trumans discussed with the town turning the motel into seven townhouse condominiums. The Pine Point group opposed the plan and the Trumans agreed to scale the plan back to as few as five condos before later scrapping the plan.

“The association agreed with that plan,” Thurlow said.

In 2007, the Trumans planned to turn the hotel into 22 individual condominiums for private sale.

At the time, the Pine Point group argued that the public should have been notified about the motel owners’ plans to sell units and that the town should have stepped in to regulate the conversion, according to a 2008 article in the Current.

A 90-page report released in March 2008 by the town’s attorney and then-Town Manager Ron Owens said the town staff acted properly in allowing the conversion to condominium ownership.

Pine Point residents also fought to have orange barrels removed from Depot Street and a chicane that replaced the barrels. They said the road was a public way and that a private party placed the barrels there.

Town Council members on Wednesday suggested that the Pine Point Association are engaged in a feud with the Trumans.

“I believe this has been elevated into a personal feud,” Wood said.

Thurlow said that was not true.

“There is a myth that has been perpetuated that there is a feud and it’s wrong,” Thurlow said. “It’s a strategy that serves to discredit a hardworking group of members of the community that take the courage to come up here and speak with you, which is not easy to do.”

Pine Point resident John Thurlow speaks on June 17 against a proposed land swap between Scarborough and the owner of the Lighthouse Motel in Pine Point.