Planning board approves University of Maine North Campus parking improvements

The Orono Planning Board on March 18 approved a site plan for North Campus parking improvements submitted by the University of Maine and its authorized agent DuBois and King.

Jeff Aceto, senior civil engineer with DuBois and King, told the board the package covers reorientation and expansion of three lots (Dunn/Corbett and the Wells lot on Tax Map 11, Lot 77) designed to replace parking lost to recent campus projects and to improve pedestrian and vehicular safety. Aceto said the Wells lot plan shows “an addition of approximately a 120 parking spaces from its present size of a 105” (verbatim from his presentation) and that the Dunning/Corbett layout will yield what he described as “about a 32 space improvement.”

Aceto described grading changes (contours and a 4:1 side slope in areas), catch basins for drainage, and lighting using dark‑sky cutoff fixtures to meet town photometric standards. He said stormwater for the site will be managed through credits from prior stormwater work performed for the Morse Arena project and through an amendment to the DEP permit included with the university’s certification materials. He also said the low‑impact planting and tree plan will meet the town’s ordinance requirements, calling for approximately nine street trees and inch‑and‑a‑half caliper deciduous trees per the ordinance.

During questions, board members pressed for a specific planting plan and species list; Aceto offered to provide a planting detail after consulting the university’s grounds staff and agreed to submit that detail as a condition tied to permit issuance. He told the board construction is expected to begin after commencement as a summer project with a target completion by August, and that Sargent Corporation submitted a public bid of approximately $2,300,000 (he said that figure includes additional work outside this site‑plan application).

A member of the board moved to approve the site plan application dated Feb. 12, 2026, with standard conditions and a requirement that planting/species details be provided with the building‑permit submission; the motion was seconded and the board voted in favor.

The board’s approval is conditional on the standard preconstruction meeting and the submission of the planting plan and final details required by the town’s site‑plan checklist. Aceto said the University of Maine will own and maintain the parking infrastructure through the university’s facilities office. The board did not record an individual roll‑call tally in the transcript; the chair called the vote and recorded that the motion carried.