BIDDEFORD — The Planning Board voted on May 2 to recommend a controversial measure to reduce the setback on a portion of the University of New England’s Biddeford Campus that borders the Saco River.

The issue, that must go before the City Council for final approval, would reduce a setback along the river by 25 feet, from 100 feet to 75 feet from the normal high-water line of the wetland, to allow the university to build a waterfront pavilion/amphitheater. 

Without the change the structure, which would consist of a patio surrounded by four masts and covered with sail cloth, would have to move further back from the river, UNE Assistant Vice President of Planning Alan Thibeault said. That would require moving the handicap access, he said, and because of the grading in the area the amphitheater effect would be eliminated.

The new plan presented earlier this month reduces the area where the 75 foot setback would apply from an earlier version the university put forth.

The earlier proposal by UNE was for a zoning change, from Limited Residential Shoreland District to General Development, and would have applied to three parcels along the waterfront. The new version keeps the zone as Limited Residential and applies the reduced, 75 foot setback to only one parcel and keeps all other requirements as is.

“The board does support what UNE is proposing in this revised version,” Hills Beach Association board member Patricia Boston said during a public hearing last week. Boston, who spoke on behalf of the association’s board had submitted at a public hearing on the issue on April 4 the revision that UNE ultimately put forth, although the board’s recommendation was for a more limited area for the reduced setback.

But others who spoke on May 2 objected to UNE’s plan.

“The Conservation Commission embraces the intent of the change,” commission member Kenneth Buechs said on the commission’s behalf. However, he said, the carve out for the reduced setback “extends unnecessarily beyond the waterfront park.”

As residents and taxpayers “we are obligated to comply with the city’s ordinances if we want to receive a building permit from the Code Enforcement Office,” Ward 1 resident Susan Amons said. “Why would we grant UNE a special setback as a reward for not following the same building requirements that we all follow.”

The zone change will likely go before City Council at their meeting on May 15.

— Associate Editor Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324, or [email protected].