Planning Board continues review of proposed athletic dome after technical, environmental and design concerns

A public hearing on a proposed air-supported athletic dome on Cascade Road drew detailed technical testimony from the applicant and more than a dozen public speakers at the Saco Planning Board meeting on June 17.

City Planner Emily Cole Prescott summarized outstanding staff issues including sewer design, sidewalk connections, a legal opinion limiting the board’s authority to grant a Shoreland-slope waiver, and outstanding agency comments from Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. She said the board had been provided a legal opinion concluding the board “does not have the authority to grant that waiver.”

Silas Canavan, civil engineer with Atlantic Resource Consultants, representing the applicant 4 A Property LLC, described the proposal as “approximately 75,000 square foot, enclosed athletic facility. It'll house an indoor soccer field and, pickleball, pickleball courts,” and reviewed technical materials the applicant supplied on the dome fabric, skylight light transmission, interior lighting fixtures, HVAC noise estimates, and a revised gravity sewer alignment the team agreed to provide after staff raised…