SACO — Despite opposition from a land trust, the City Council approved a contract zone Monday that will allow The Ecology School to move to an old farm on Simpson Road.

The school must now present a proposal for site plan review to the city’s Planning Board.

The Ecology School, which provides residential ecology educational programming, has been in operation since 1998 on space it rents from the Ferry Beach Association. The school is under contract to purchase the former Riverbend Farm at 184 Simpson Road, which founder Drew Dumsch said will allow the school to expand the programming season and farming.

The school would like to build three buildings on the property – two dormitories and a dining hall. Dumsch said he plans to begin farming the land in 2017, and move all operations to the property by 2019.

The Simpson Road location is not zoned to allow for school facilities, so a contract zone was necessary for the school to proceed with plans to move to the new location. The contract zone was approved in a 5 to 2 vote, with councilors Roger Gay and Nathan Johnston opposed.

The 105-acre Riverbend Farm was put in an easement in 1998 with Saco Valley Land Trust by former owner Mary Merrill, who died in 2005 and left the property to her nephew, Tom Merrill, who approves of The Ecology School’s plans.

According to the terms of the easement, the land must be used for farming, recreation, education or research. Building is permitted only on nine acres of land where a farmhouse and barn are located, and commercial activity is prohibited unless it’s agricultural.

Under the terms of the contract zone, two dormitories with no more than 9,000 square feet of floor area and a footprint, or base, of 4,500 square feet each can be built. The dormitories can be up to three stories high and 35 feet tall from the highest land point.

The contract zone also allows a dining hall with no more than 7,000 square feet of floor area and a footprint of no more than 7,000 square feet. Accessory buildings may be allowed, subject to site plan review by the Planning Board.

Members of the Saco Valley Land Trust oppose The Ecology School’s plans for construction, saying it would be out of scale with the rest of the property and would go against the easement.

Sue Littlefield, secretary of the Saco Valley Land Trust, said the proposed buildings were “too large.”

“We can not accept the plan as given,” she said.

Tom Merrill said the proposed building will be at least 300 yards from the road and hidden by a line of trees.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].