Under a recent court ruling, the Cape Elizabeth Planning Board must revisit key aspects of the site plan it approved more than a year ago for the redevelopment of what’s known as the Cape Co-op property on Ocean House Road.

The board was initially scheduled to discuss the issue at its June meeting, but tabled the matter to its meeting this week, which is scheduled for Tuesday, July 19, after the Current’s print deadline.

After the Planning Board gave Nick Tammaro the go-ahead to make improvements to the Co-op site last May, the owner of the nearby Rudy’s on the Cape restaurant, Paul Woods, sued the town, arguing the board had not followed proper procedure.

In particular, Peggy McGehee, the attorney for Rudy’s, said in a prior interview that the site plan the board approved was not in compliance with town ordinances and development requirements.

The Cumberland County Superior Court has remanded the case back to the Cape Planning Board on three specific issues dealing with lighting, landscaping and stormwater management.

McGehee told the Current last month that the owners of Rudy’s on the Cape sued the town in regard to the redevelopment plan for the Cape Co-op because the project was not subjected to the same “rigorous review process” or held to the same “really high standards.”

“Unlike the year-long process for Rudy’s, the Planning Board reviewed and approved (Tammaro’s project) in one night,” McGehee said. “This (project), which is only a few doors down, is not of the same quality and it was a rushed application.”

Tammaro, who has owned and operated Tammaro Landscaping since the age of 16, has now diversified his holdings to include the entire Cape Co-op property, as well as an off-site farm. His plans for the co-op include removing one of the greenhouses and turning a retail space into a 30-seat pizzeria with an outdoor patio.

– Kate Irish Collins

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