Staff Writer 

Cottage Brook, the town-approved 42-unit, 24-acre subdivision off Spurwink Avenue in Cape Elizabeth formerly known as Spurwink Woods is “on hold,” according to developers. 

So far the project, originally proposed in 2005, consists of four cleared lots.

“We’re just sitting on it right now,” said Jim McFarlane, spokesman for Spurwink Woods, LLC – owner of the parcel. “We would want more than one person to build a house [in order] for us to start building infrastructure.”

McFarlane said further progress on the development will likely wait until the real estate market is more favorable for new projects. Town Planner Maureen O’Meara said the planning board’s 2006 approval of the project will not need to be renewed since construction has begun. 

In August last year, the planning board amended phasing of the project to accommodate the slowdown. It limited the initial construction phase to four individual lots that have since been cleared, according to planning board minutes.

“They have started work to stimulate [town] permits,” O’Meara said. “Once it’s recorded, it’s good forever.”

Jeff Kalinich, spokesman for Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Land and Water Quality, said state permits generally scheduled to expire 10 months ago also are valid because the developer had cleared the building sites. The state considers such steps enough to keep stormwater permits open. 

“As far as we’re concerned, they’re good to go,” Kalinich said.

Department of Environmental Protection Project Manager Bill Bullard said “startup steps” such as clearing potential development sites is enough to keep permits open, but the developer also is required to complete the stormwater treatment system within five years of the permit being issued. Unless the development is finished by 2011, he said the DEP could “check in on the status” of the project.

“I’ve made a call to the developer just to see what’s going on,” Bullard said. “I was kind of assuming things were progressing.” 

Clearing the lots might be enough to satiate town and state permits, but Cape Elizabeth resident and long-time critic of the development Richard Bryant said the project “still didn’t make much sense” to him for several reasons. He believes construction of a new street specifically designed for the subdivision will create excessive traffic in front of his home and residents closer to the subdivision could have other problems with the influx of new commuters, echoing his concerns during the intial planning process.

“I would have thought it would have been there now. The economy has changed and that type of project doesn’t make sense right now. I’m sure they thought it was a good development when they proposed it, and I hope it’s as good as they intended it to be,” he said. “Until they start work on the road, it won’t have any affect on me, and I will not be happy about that.”

Bryant and his wife spearheaded an appeal to the DEP’s approval of the project in 2007, nearly two years after the developer first proposed the project to town planning staff, according to a letter from Town Manager Michael McGovern. Bryant said the appeal focused on omission of a “site location approval” permit, and what he said were miscalculations given for the amount of impervious surface. 

The Board of Environmental Protection denied Bryant’s appeal and upheld the DEP’s approval of the subdivision stormwater treatment plans in February 2007.

“The court decided DEP had looked at the issue,” Bryant said.

Staff Writer Nate Jones may be reached at 282-4337 ext. 233.