South Portland residents are voicing concerns about a 30 acre, 1,000-unit housing development at the site of the former shipyard next to Bug Light Park.
They packed a meeting Wednesday night, which was organized by a group that's opposed to the zoning changes that would eventually allow for the development.
The proposal calls for mixed-use apartment buildings that range in size from five stories, to 12 or 13 stories. Developers PK Realty Management said the entire project, which includes construction of retail space and a hotel, could take 15-to-20 years to build.
Some said the project is too large and worried about traffic, particularly on Broadway Street. And many said they were concerned that it would be located near petroleum storage tanks on an environmental brownfields site that also faces a flood risk.
"What would our liability be as taxpayer of this city, for approving a development that places 1,000 homes and 2,000 to 3,000 people in a contaminated site next to oil tanks in a flood zone?" said former South Portland mayor Tom Blake, who's part of the NO Yard South opposition group. "We may be responsible."
PK Realty Management President Jen Packard said the project, which could take 15-to-20 years to build, would be designed to withstand sea level rise and storm surge. The land, she said, may not be remediated at all without the development.
"Somebody has to take the first step, and we're taking the first step," she said.
Packard acknowledged that the project is "huge," but she said that opponents aren't talking about the much-needed housing that the project would bring.
"You could go to any project and you'll have the same flavor of the day complaints, couched in environmental concerns, couched in traffic concerns, couched in affordability concerns," she said. "It all comes down to the same thing: We're afraid of change, and we don't want it to happen here."
About 100 of the housing units would be deemed affordable with income restrictions, through an arrangement with the South Portland Housing Authority.
Project opponents said they worried that South Portland and its school district couldn't accommodate the additional people. Blake argued that the city would lose its views of Portland.
"Because they'll be blocked by 13-story buildings that are filled with out-of-towners [who] have $1-to-2 million dollars for maybe a second home," he said.
The project must receive planning board consideration first before heading to the South Portland City Council.
At Wednesday's meeting, Mayor Misha Pride said he would vote against the development.
