Developer pitches 200‑unit Priscilla Farm housing project; neighbors raise traffic, school and wetlands concerns

Ben Hooper, owner of Priscilla Farm LLC, presented a sketch plan to the Belfast Planning Board on Aug. 13 proposing to convert roughly 35 acres inside the Route 1 bypass into about 200 dwelling units in a mix of duplexes, quadplexes and townhouse condominiums.

Hooper said the project is being sized for roughly 500 bedrooms for utility-capacity estimates and would be built in multiple phases over about eight years. ‘‘Belfast needs housing for working families,’’ Hooper told the board, describing a mix of one‑, two‑ and three‑bedroom units and a design goal to retain wooded buffers along Route 1.

The board’s staff, led by Planning and Codes Director Bob Fournier, emphasized that this was a sketch plan — no engineering was complete — and that the application will be reviewed under the city code (chapter 90 site plan review, chapter 102 zoning and chapter 98 technical standards) as it moves to preliminary and final plan stages. Fournier said the board had mailed and newspaper‑notified abutters and that additional public hearings will follow.

Neighbors and other members of the public testified during the hearing. Hillary Harston, who lives next door on Priscilla Lane, said she ‘‘would prefer that this 35 acres of woodland be developed as far fewer than 200 homes’’ and asked the board to prioritize construction access on Elementary Way, add traffic calming and require sidewalks. Educator Jenny Judkins described using the Sanderson property as an outdoor classroom for Captain Albert Stevens School and warned that vernal pools, salamanders and other wetland features are important classroom and ecological resources. Katie Green and other residents said sidewalks and Congress Street sewer improvements promised in earlier projects remain incomplete, leaving doubt about when off‑site infrastructure would be available to support new units.

Board members focused questions on access, sewer capacity and wetlands. Members asked whether the project should be assumed to tie into a future Congress Street sewer line; staff and the applicant said the project would plan to use that line but that final sizing depends on later engineering and DEP/site law approvals. Hooper said there is a deeded easement to an existing sewer connection on a nearby parcel but that pumping or forced mains could be required depending on grade.

Residents also pressed the applicant on traffic and parking projections. Staff noted that parking demand depends on unit types (market rentals versus subsidized units), and Hooper said he plans to engineer infrastructure for the 500‑bedroom capacity while keeping housing product flexible during marketing.

The hearing closed for the evening after broad public participation; the board urged the applicant to prepare traffic and sewer studies and to address wetlands and buffering in future submittals. No formal board approval or vote was taken on the sketch plan at this meeting; the board signaled the project will return for preliminary plan review with engineering, a traffic study and DEP permits.

Next steps: the applicant will supply additional engineering, a traffic study and sewer sizing for board review; the board will schedule further public hearings before a preliminary plan decision.