The Planning Board action clears way for the Lighthouse Inn’s controversial land exchange with the town.

A controversial plan to relocate the parking lot of the Lighthouse Inn at Pine Point onto some town-owned land won unanimous approval from the Scarborough Planning Board on Monday night.

The decision delighted the owners of the inn, but disappointed a group of Pine Point residents. The residents have been fighting the plan for months because it involves a land swap with the town that they bitterly oppose.

The approval now paves the way for the owners of the 22-unit inn/condominium building, Peter and Nicholas Truman, to go forward with the planned land exchange with the town. The Trumans have said they were waiting to find out if their parking plan would be approved before signing the papers.

In the swap, the town will give the Trumans about 19,831 square feet of town-owned Depot Street, which runs in front of the beachfront inn, ending at the dunes. In return, the Trumans will give the town their current parking strip of about 13,044 square feet, which is located across Depot Street from the inn.

The Trumans benefit from the trade because acquiring Depot Street allows them to move their parking closer to the inn building.

The town wants the parking strip because it plans to combine that land with another area of town-owned land adjacent to the strip to create a new public access way to the beach. The public has previously used Depot Street to access the beach.

The town plan is still in the concept phase, but as proposed it includes such amenities as stone benches, a foot-washing station, a bicycle rack and drop-off area for cars. The town is seeking public input on the proposal and three public hearings on that plan are slated for this month and next.

Peter Truman attended the Planning Board meeting without his brother on Monday. He expressed relief after the meeting about the approval of the inn’s plan after months of controversy.

“I’m very happy with the vote,” Peter Truman said. “It was nice to see it come to an end.”

The land swap has generated fierce controversy in town for months. The Town Council approved the exchange in July, despite objections from a large number of Pine Point residents. The issue came back to the council in August, but councilors voted 5-2 against reconsidering.

Peter Truman said that when the land swap actually takes place “all depends on the lawyers.” However, he said, he expects it will take place soon. Town Manager Tom Hall said last week that the swap could be finalized as soon as this week if the plan were approved.

The Trumans hope to have their new parking lot operating by the time their business opens for the season in 2010. The inn is open six months a year.

When the Planning Board approved the Trumans’ 22-space parking lot plan on Monday, it imposed several conditions that addressed concerns residents had previously raised.

One condition requires the removal of the inn’s stone planter that is located in a public right of way. The removal will take place when the town does some planned improvements to Pine and King streets.

Residents had also requested that the inn install split rail fencing around the new parking lot. The Trumans have said they are happy to install any fencing the town wants.

Board members directed the Trumans to install fencing that would match and coordinate with whatever fencing the town decides to use along the new public access way it is planning. Several board members said their preference is for split rail fencing.

But a group of about 15 residents attending the meeting Monday were angry that they weren’t allowed to give public comment at that time.

“I’m very disappointed that we were not allowed to speak,” said Judy Shirk, a spokeswoman for the residents fighting the land swap.

Cory Fellows, a Planning Board member who led the meeting because board Chairman Allen Paul was absent, told residents that the public hearing on the issue had already been held when the Trumans first brought their site plan to the board in November.

Residents commented on the plan at that Nov. 2 meeting. Board members then told the Trumans then to address some concerns they had about aesthetics and safety, and also to work to develop their plan in conjunction with the town before returning for final approval.

Fellows said at Monday’s meeting that he wanted to “acknowledge and express my appreciation” for all the input the board had received from the public regarding the Trumans’ plan. And he said he was sure that he and other board members “would do our best to see that those comments are incorporated into our decision.”

But residents started calling out before the board voted, demanding to speak. One resident, Robert Baizley, stood up and said the Trumans’ plan needed Maine Department of Environment approval to go forward because it’s near a sensitive dune area.

Other residents also spoke out, but Fellows said, “We’re not holding a public hearing tonight. We already had a public hearing.”

The board went on and voted 5-0 to approve the Trumans’ plan. Voting were Fellows and board members John Chamberlain, Anne Littlefield, Jeffrey Thomas and Ronald Mazur. Mazur is an alternate board member who was given a vote Monday night in Paul’s absence.

Susan Auglis, another alternate board member, was present Monday and did not vote. However, Auglis said, she supported the Trumans’ plan with the conditions imposed.

Residents also were angry because they wanted the board to hold off on voting until it had reviewed the town public access plan.

The Planning Board is required to come up with an advisory opinion on the town plan. However, the Town Council has final approval of such municipal building projects, according to Town Planner Dan Bacon.

Bacon told the board that following the public forums on the town plan that plan could come to the board in January but would most likely be heard at its February meeting. The public hearings are scheduled for Dec. 22, Jan. 7 and Jan. 12.

If the town plan is approved, Hall has said he hopes to have the new public beach access area ready to use at the start of the summer season.

Chamberlain, one of the board members, initially said at Monday’s meeting that he wanted to wait to see a final version of the town’s plan because he didn’t like the picket fence the Trumans were proposing.

“I’d prefer to wait, particularly with the town giving the impression it’s going to make a decision (on the town plan),” Chamberlain said.

However, when other board members suggested imposing the condition that the Trumans install the same type of fencing that the town ends up choosing for its project, Chamberlain joined other board members in approving the Trumans’ parking plan.

The board also imposed two other conditions on the inn’s parking plan. One is that a courtyard area south of the inn be maintained as a fire lane. Another one is that a small area that the Trumans designated as a motorcycle parking area be green space instead of concrete. Motorcycles or bicycles still could be parked there, the board said.

Fellows read from a piece of paper all four conditions before the board voted.

That led residents afterward to accuse the board of having come up with all the conditions before their meeting. “Everything was planned,” Shirk said. “It was a done deal before we got here.”

But Bacon said that planning staff had only written up one condition beforehand – the one about the fire lane because that was something town fire officials insisted upon.

He said he wrote up the other three conditions on the sheet of paper as board members agreed on them during the debate, and simply handed the paper to Fellows to read.

Judy Shirk, a Pine Point resident, stands on Depot Street facing the Lighthouse Inn at Pine Point in Scarborough. The controversial land-swap deal between the town and the inn was finalized last week, and planning has begun for a new public access way to the beach. (Staff photo by Tess Nacelewicz)Peter Truman, who together with his brother owns the Lighthouse Inn at Pine Point in Scarborough, answers a Planning Board question on Monday while pointing to the site plan for a new parking lot for the inn. The plan, which the board ended up approving, requires a controversial land swap between the town and the inn. (Staff photo by Tess Nacelewicz)