An amendment that would have reduced the 250-foot wetland buffer in the Business A District was defeated in a 3-3 vote by the Cape Elizabeth Town Council at their meeting Monday night at Town Hall.

The proposed amendment was requested by Two Lights General Store owner Mary Page to allow her to clean up a small section of her property that fell within the 250-foot buffer zone. Cape Elizabeth’s wetland ordinance is more restrictive than the state standard, which requires only a 100-foot buffer.

The Conservation Commission was opposed to the amendment, while the town’s Planning Board voted unanimously to reduce the buffer zone.

The council was split 3-3 after Councilor David Backer recused himself from the vote because his law firm has done work for Page.

Town Councilor Mary Ann Lynch voted for the amendment stating several reasons why the reduced buffer was acceptable to her, including the fact that it would affect only a very small area of town, it would not affect wetlands with high or moderate values for wildlife and would require the business owners to connect with town water and sewer lines.

Councilor Paul McKenney, who also voted for the amendment, said it was better for the environment if businesses in the BA District, who are all on septic systems, were required to connect to the sewers.

Currently, said Councilor Michael Mowles, the septic is seeping into the wetlands. Mowles also said he expected the Conservation Commission’s opposition to the amendment because they were the ones who lobbied to increase the buffer in the first place. “A leopard can’t change their spots,” he said.

Councilors Carolyn Fritz, Jack Roberts and Chairman Anne Swift-Kayatta voted against the amendment citing an unwanted precedent, lack of information and unintended consequences as their reasons.

Swift-Kayatta also reminded the council they had taken a vote previously to restrain from changing any zoning ordinances before the Comprehensive Planning Committee had completed their work.

“If I knew the impacts I’d be the first one to make it less restrictive,” said Roberts, who was the only councilor who did not visit the site in question. “But again, we don’t know.”

Mary Page, who has said in the past that she requested the amendment to allow her to clean out an area that reflects poorly on her business, had no comment on the decision.

In other council news, the Coastal Waters and Harbor Ordinance was unanimously amended to incorporate proposed changes by the new Harbormaster Roger Long.

The changes include requiring mooring permits be renewed every year instead of biannually, allowing the harbormaster to remove abandoned mooring anchors if deemed a hazard, and removing a clause which required anyone anchoring for more than 24 hours within Cape Elizabeth waters to get the permission of the harbormaster.

Also, the council voted unanimously to table three documents related to the reorganization of Regional Waste Systems as ECO Maine and the adoption of a new interlocal agreement for ECO Maine. Councilors requested more information and cost estimates of alternatives before going ahead with the vote. The vote was tabled last month for the same reason.

RWS General Manager Kevin Roche attended a workshop with the council before the meeting to discuss the issue and answer any questions about adopting the new solid waste agreement. Roche said 12 communities had already adopted the new agreement.

Town Councilor David Backer said he was in complete favor of regionalizing waste disposal, but said he saw “no reason to rush into an agreement.”

Town Manager Michael McGovern said he could have more information about possible alternatives and their estimated costs by September, when the council will have another workshop on the issue. The vote was tabled until the October council meeting.