The future of Seacoast United Maine’s plan to build an indoor-outdoor soccer complex in Freeport remains unclear after the Town Council’s rejection of a needed zoning change Tuesday.

The council acted in the face of overwhelming opposition from residents during its first public hearing on the project — nearly a year after councilors decided to provide 12 acres of town land for the complex in exchange for some public use of the fields.

With the land deal set to expire in mid-April, a Seacoast representative declined to say Thursday whether the soccer club still views the town-owned parcel off Pownal Road as a viable site.

“I believe the club will find a home somewhere,” said Mike Healy, a retired lawyer who lives in Freeport and represents Seacoast. “Where it will be, I don’t know.”

Healy said Paul Willis, executive director of the New Hampshire-based Seacoast United clubs, is away on business and hasn’t been available to discuss the future of the Freeport project. Healy said he also called town officials after Tuesday’s 5-2 vote but hadn’t heard back from them.

Several business and property owners in other communities have contacted Seacoast in recent months, offering to partner with the soccer club if the deal with Freeport officials fell through, Healy said.

Deke Andrew, who recently opened the Riverside Athletic Facility in Portland, said he’s one of them.

“I have made several attempts to reach out to Seacoast to share our facility,” Andrew wrote in an email to The Portland Press Herald. “Not only do we have a state-of-the-art facility, we also have the land and zoning to add outdoor fields.”

Seacoast representatives didn’t respond, Andrew said.

Willis couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday. Neither could Freeport Town Manager Dale Olmstead or Town Council Chairman Jim Cassida.

More than 180 residents attended Tuesday’s standing-room-only hearing on the soccer club’s request to create a wholly new recreation district within a rural residential zone. Echoing concerns of many residents, a majority of the councilors said they liked the project but not the location, where zoning doesn’t allow the sports complex.

The pending land deal between Freeport and Seacoast required town officials to help the soccer club get needed zoning and environmental permits.

Healy declined to say Thursday whether he believes the council violated the terms of the contract by voting against the zoning change.

Residents who fought the land deal aren’t confident that Seacoast representatives or town officials have given up on the town-owned parcel, near Hedgehog Mountain and the new Hunter Road Fields.

But even if the land deal is dead, the newly incorporated Save Our Neighborhoods Coalition isn’t going away, said spokeswoman and Secretary Lucy Lloyd.

“This isn’t the only issue that’s important to town residents,” Lloyd said Thursday. “We want good governance in our town. We want the voice of residents to be heard in Town Hall, not just the voice of economic development.”

The nonprofit coalition will remain diligent in insisting that town officials follow the town charter, zoning regulations and comprehensive plan, Lloyd said.

The coalition also will pay attention to the town budget, the council’s consideration of ethics and conflict-of-interest ordinances, future management of the Hunter Road Fields, the Vision 2025 plan being developed by the Freeport Economic Development Corp., and the renovation and expansion plan being developed for Freeport High School.

Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:

kbouchard@pressherald.com

 

Copy the Story Link