A months-long push from residents to slow development in Westbrook was squashed Monday when the City Council voted in a 3-3 tie to deny a six-month moratorium – a tally that surprised a number of supporters in the council chambers.

The citywide conversation on growth and development, also election issues, could again shift based on the local results Nov. 8.

On the ballot in Westbrook is a $27.3 million school expansion project, which school officials say is vital to address overcrowding, as well as four choices for the next mayor of Westbrook and two contested City Council seats.

In the days following the vote Monday, there was already talk among those who favored the moratorium about the next steps, especially if the school expansion referendum is rejected.

The vote Monday was the culmination of months of discussion on such a measure, which supporters said was needed for the community to address what they see as an inadequate comprehensive plan and zoning ordinances. If approved, it would have stopped all residential developments of more than 10 units for the next six months.

However, opponents argued that the city has already committed to looking at its ordinances and implementing impact fees, and that a moratorium would be costly for the business community and leave the city vulnerable to lawsuits.

Discussion Monday resulted in a range of opinions from residents, officials, business owners and attorneys on how the city should best traverse its development boom, and in the end, it split the council.

During the roll call vote, councilors John O’Hara, Mike Sanphy and Victor Chau supported the moratorium, while Anna Turcotte, Michael Foley and Gary Rairdon voted against it. Council President Brendan Rielly recused himself from the vote because a partner at his law firm has represented Risbara Bros., the developer of Blue Spruce Farm. Phase 2 of that project triggered the moratorium effort.

All of the candidates campaigning for a contested seat supported the moratorium.

One of the candidates, Veronica Bates, who is running for Ward 2 councilor, made an emotional plea to the council concerning the state of the schools. As a School Committee member and co-chairman of the school building committee, Bates said she knows the problems facing the schools and is worried about what will happen if the expansion referendum fails at the polls.

She disputed figures presented by the developer based on school enrollment studies, which predict a low number of students generated from the Blue Spruce Farm project. She said the school department, which conducted its own studies using a more comprehensive approach, arrived at much higher numbers citywide.

“If we vote no, what are we going to do with the kids?” she said, adding that the city shouldn’t be “bullied” by a developer, a comment that was repeated by a number of residents.

Risbara had previously threatened legal action if the council approved the moratorium.

But those who voted against the measure were unsure that the evidence included in the ordinance, which must lay out specific reasons for the moratorium, would hold up in court.

Rocco Risbara told the council that it appeared they were about to vote on a moratorium based on “anecdotal evidence.”

“In 94 units so far, there is one child in the schools,” he said. “How can you pass this based on that?”

Bryan Bozsik, a Westbrook resident and one of the leaders of the citizen-led Westbrook Forward group, said following the meeting that he was obviously unhappy with the council vote, but he also believes the group of residents has accomplished a lot.

While Foley had been outspoken Monday and at previous meetings against the moratorium, councilors Turcotte and Rairdon appeared to support it, but had questions on the ordinance language. Neither councilor spoke about their position during the meeting.

In an email Tuesday, Turcotte said that “with everything presented to us, based on all the evidence and testimony I heard, the proposed moratorium was reactionary and possibly targeted at one developer. A moratorium is not a solution to the issues that the residents raised; it’s only a pause button. And even if it survived a court challenge, which city legal counsel advised that it may not, in the spring the development would start again.”

She said she will encourage review and possible amendments to the city’s zoning ordinances.

Michael Shaughnessy, who is also running for mayor, told the council that concern over development in the city is not isolated to just the neighborhoods surrounding Blue Spruce Farm.

During the meeting, Foley repeated comments he’d made during previous meetings, saying the facts don’t meet the criteria for a moratorium ordinance. Under state statute, a moratorium is allowed to “prevent a shortage or overburdening of public facilities that would occur as a result of any anticipated development, or because the application of the city’s existing comprehensive plan or zoning ordinances are inadequate to prevent serious public harm.”

The position of city administration, outlined in the council memo Monday, was that the moratorium ordinance did not meet the “overburden” or “serious public harm” criteria.

Part of the administration’s argument was that the only current project that would have been impacted by the moratorium ordinance is Blue Spruce phase 2, which calls for 108 apartments in nine buildings.

“The impact of this project will not result in ‘serious public harm’ from residential development in the area and will not ‘overburden public facilities’ and, therefore fails to meet the ‘necessity’ requirement of 30-A M.S.R.A. section 4356,” the memo stated.

Much of the conversation Monday focused on the school impact, as well as the defense of the Blue Spruce Farm project, which some believe has unfairly been the only focal point of the moratorium. However, those in favor said there are many other large land parcels in the development queue.

Mayor Colleen Hilton said the reason the school department faces overcrowding is mainly due to the closing of Prides Corner Elementary School in 2012. That school had nine classrooms. That year, the school department also moved fifth grade to the middle school.

Risbara said in an email Wednesday that he and his brothers were pleased with the outcome Monday.

“As I stated, we felt that it was completely unnecessary, illegal, and would have been counterproductive to moving the city forward,” he said.

Now, he added, his company will continue through the planning and approval process for Phase 2, which was first presented to the Planning Board on Oct. 18.

“We have incorporated many changes into the plan to try to address concerns that have been voiced at the various meetings that have been held,” he said. “We are quite certain that our new neighborhood, both phases I and II, will give more to the city than it takes over time and that eventually everyone will see that Blue Spruce Farm is as much a part of the fabric of the city as any other neighborhood.”

Risbara Bros. Construction will move ahead with plans for Phase 2 at Blue Spruce Farm off Spring Street.