Portland Jetport's parking expansion plan lands in court

Yahoo

26-02-2025

Feb. 25—A controversial plan to expand surface parking at Portland International Jetport has landed in court less than one month after the city's planning board approved the $8 million project.
The Stroudwater Neighborhood Association filed an appeal Monday in Cumberland County Superior Court asking a judge to reverse the Jan. 28 approval of a plan to add 265 long-term surface parking spaces near the existing parking garage. The complaint asks that the project be sent back to jetport officials and the planning board for additional information and reconsideration.
The association believes the board failed to fully consider or require the city-owned airport to provide relevant information about the project's wetlands impacts and compliance with sustainability goals outlined in the jetport's 2018 master plan, said Woody Howard, president of the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
The board also failed to fully vet alternatives to expanding surface parking at the jetport, such as moving ahead with an anticipated parking garage expansion and providing shuttle service to unused parking spaces at The Maine Mall nearby in South Portland, Howard said.
"Really, this complaint is about the process," Howard said Tuesday. "We came to the meetings well prepared. We feel like we weren't heard. The jetport didn't provide information that was requested, and when we submitted information based on data they did submit, they said we misinterpreted it."
The association's 15-member board of trustees voted unanimously to file the lawsuit against the city, Howard said.
City officials declined a request for interviews because they don't comment on pending litigation, said spokesperson Jessica Grondin. Airport Director Paul Bradbury and Assistant Director Zachary Sundquist didn't respond to a separate request.
The parking project won reluctant board approval in January after jetport officials were asked to return with answers to environmental concerns that cropped up at an initial hearing in November.
Faced with growing parking demand, especially during holidays and school vacations, the jetport plans to build a 667-space lot on 13 acres along Jetport Boulevard and Loop Road. The project would reconfigure and improve 402 existing paved and unpaved spaces, including a long-term valet parking lot and the so-called cellphone lot, which is a short-term parking area where family members, friends, and Uber or Lyft drivers wait for imminent arrivals.
At the January meeting, board members voiced lingering concerns but acknowledged the city-owned jetport's importance to travelers across Maine and the limits of their purview in judging whether the project meets site plan standards.
Board members were especially troubled by a requested waiver that would allow the jetport to fill about 11,000 square feet of wetlands when many neighbors and others dispute the need for expanded surface parking in light of the city's sustainability goals.
They continued to question whether jetport officials had fully considered alternative solutions to growing parking demand and whether it made more sense to build another parking garage now instead of later.
While many airports have shuttle-served offsite parking like the jetport's Pink Lot near Exit 46 of the Maine Turnpike, Bradbury has said parking needs to be within walking distance of the terminal to make it sustainable and have the smallest carbon footprint.
The neighborhood group hopes jetport officials will reconsider shuttle parking at the mall, make more efficient use of parking they already have, and move forward with a parking garage expansion that would have a smaller physical footprint and fewer environmental impacts.
"We agree there's a need for more parking," Howard said Tuesday. "That's why we question why they aren't building another parking garage already."
Ultimately the board approved the project 4-1, with member Marpheen Chann opposed.
Chann criticized the jetport's last-minute offer to add a conservation easement to prevent development of other wetlands on airport property, saying the board and the public didn't have a chance to fully consider the proposal. The board included the easement as a condition of receiving a building permit, with details to be worked out with planning staff.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is reviewing the project. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has already authorized filling the wetlands.
The Portland City Council also must vote on the jetport's plan to spend $8 million from its $39 million unrestricted cash fund balance.
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