SACO — The Saco River Corridor Commission tabled a vote on the application for a  $40 million mixed-use redevelopment proposed for the east side of Saco Island, stating that more review is needed.

Saulnier Development has proposed The Waters, which would include 92 condominiums, 10,000 sq. ft. of retail space, a small boutique hotel, a restaurant and two small marinas.

The proposed development is on a long-undeveloped area of Saco Island, located in the Saco River on the southern end of Saco’s downtown.

The Waters development project can not move forward until it receives the necessary permits from the Saco River Corridor Commission, a quasi-state organization created by Maine Legislature in the 1970s to protect the environment along the Saco River corridor.

A similar project, with larger marinas, was approved by the commission in 2007 but never built.

The Saco River Corridor Commission tabled a decision whether to vote on The Waters application at its Wednesday night meeting in Dayton, said project spokesman Mark Robinson in a written statement. The next meeting of the commission is expected to be in late August.

“It was within the first five or ten minutes of considering the application that the Commission announced there would be no vote,” said Robinson. “They said there a few reasons for that, but the only one they cited specifically was that the developer has not submitted detailed architectural specifications for the proposed hotel.”

Saco River Commission Executive Director Dalyn Houser said though the developer had made a presentation on The Waters project at the commission’s June meeting, and commission members attended a site walk on Saco Island on Tuesday, Wednesday night’s meeting was the first time the commission discussed the details of the project.

Houser said there were “quite a few issue areas” that needed to be reviewed and the board needed more time to thoroughly discuss them.

She said regardless of whether the project before the board was a shack, a home, or a $40 million project the board would take the time needed to make sure the quality of the water and the river are protected, noting that the Saco River is a drinking water source for thousands of people.

“We’re simply doing our job,” Houser said.

Projects that go before the Saco River Corridor Commission must meet certain standards in areas that include visual impact, soil erosion and tree removal.

Robinson said the commission spent about two hours Wednesday night considering the application. Most of the discussion consisted of questions from the commissioners to Stephen Bushey of Stantec and his team of technical experts. Stantec is an engineering firm based in Scarborough, and Bushey is the senior project manager.

“In my opinion there was a lot of positive dialogue, and the developer’s team did a great job of supplying very specific and technical information to the Commissioners. They seemed pleased with the level of detail,” Robinson said.

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