A conceptual drawing of the exterior of Center Court, a proposed 33-unit senior housing development in Cape Elizabeth. Contributed / Hardypond Construction

A citizen petition was filed and verified last week in Cape Elizabeth, prompting a referendum to overturn amendments made to the town center district.

The amendments were spurred by a 33-unit senior housing development proposed for the town center, Center Court. They apply to parcels within the town center district that are at least 125 feet away from a public road and would double those parcels’ density of one unit per 3,000 square feet to one unit per 1,500 square feet; increase a building’s footprint from 5,000 square feet to 12,000 square feet and a building’s height from 35 feet to 50 feet.

Councilors have stated that the amendments would apply to six properties in the district.

Those opposed to the amendments critiqued its wide range rather than being targeted for the Center Court project specifically. Those amendments were passed by the council, 5-2, with Councilors Stephanie Anderson and Tim Thompson opposed, at its Feb. 10 meeting.

The council scheduled a special meeting for Feb. 27 to reconsider the amendments. However, once the petition calling for a referendum to overturn the amendments was filed on Feb. 24, with over 1,140 signatures, the meeting was canceled. A total of 1,056 signatures were verified by the town clerk on Feb. 27, meeting the threshold of 10% of registered Cape Elizabeth voters – or approximately 826 – signatures needed to force a referendum.

The Cape Neighbors Alliance, a group whose “mission is to inform our neighbors of issues affecting our community and promote good governance,” supported the petition, but stated it was “not the driving force behind this effort.”

“While Cape Neighbors Alliance supports the citizens’ right to petition their government, we were not the driving force behind this effort. That isn’t to say that some of our members may have participated in collecting signatures,” the Alliance wrote in a statement to the Sentry. “We do ads to expose local issues, but that’s about the extent of it.”

The petition was filed last week under the name of resident Timothy Dew but, according to the Alliance, about a dozen people were responsible for gathering signatures. Ahead of the Feb. 10 vote, Dew and other residents took to the podium and aired their concerns.

Dew pointed to multiple instances in the amendment process where he believes the councilors glossed over significant issues, including specific effects on the five other impacted properties it applies to, such as Ocean House Farm at 359 Ocean House Road.

“This is going to be a major, major impact on our town,” Dew said at the meeting. “I just hope you take tonight a little more seriously and quit acting like it’s no big deal.”

Bob Gaudreau, of Hardypond Construction, the developer of the Center Court project, stated at a meeting in January that the project “could be dead” if the process isn’t moved along more quickly.

At the Feb. 10 meeting, he said that was “a bad statement” and elaborated on the time constraints. May would be the ideal start to the process, but at the rate things are going, he said, he will likely be delayed an entire year.

“That probably is going to cost me approximately $420,000 to delay a year because I am not going to start a project, have the architects spend three months to get a project planned for August, try and find a site guy to dig me a hole, a foundation guy and then finally get out of the ground probably mid-November,” Gaudreau said, explaining that some aspects of the construction can’t begin until the months of snow have passed.

Gaudreau requested his development be separated from the broader amendment so he could avoid those costly delays.

“If you don’t understand how the impact of timing is to a developer, you’re doing a great sin to yourself by not understanding the process,” he said. “Separate me from the rest and let me proceed.”

Cynthia Dill led a petition drive in 2021 to overturn zoning amendments in the town center that would have applied to a 46-unit development, Dunham Court, proposed for the same property. The developer scrapped the project soon after.

Unlike the previous effort, Dill and others opposed to the current amendments are in favor of the project itself.

“It’s a great project and I urge you to just support it,” Dill said at the Feb. 10 meeting. “Just take the bird in hand as opposed to what’s before you which is the Planning Board proposed amendments that go sufficiently beyond what was requested.”

Tony Owens, who said he helped collect signatures in the previous effort, agreed.

“While the Center Court project may be an improvement over its predecessor, these amendments go far beyond a single development,” he said. “They lay a foundation for several large-scale apartment complexes that will fundamentally change the character of Cape Elizabeth’s town center and, in doing so, change the town forever.”

Council Chair Penny Jordan told the Sentry on Tuesday she respects her constituents even if she disagrees with their stance on the amendments.

“I respect the fact citizens have the right to exercise their rights and use this type of tool to voice their concerns. I respect that,” she said. “I’m concerned that many times there are misconceptions about what the council is seeking for an outcome. I don’t think what we’re trying to do is really change the essence of our town of Cape Elizabeth.”

As a lifelong resident, and coming from a family with roots in Cape Elizabeth multiple generations deep, Jordan said she has witnessed plenty of change in town, including the building of housing developments that were considered controversial at the time. She said Cape Elizabeth will continue to evolve and she believes the council is planning for the future in a thoughtful manner.

“What challenges me is we do have to consider change, we do have to consider smart growth,” she said. “I think what the council is trying to do is make some decisions that consider the future of the town and how we address the tax burdens on households. One of the ways we do that is through housing. We need to start moving in that direction.”

Jordan said the council is likely to consider addressing the Center Court project separately from the amendments that are now subject to a referendum vote. They will also have to decide when that vote is held.

The council’s next meeting is Monday, March 10.