SCARBOROUGH – When Harvey Rosenfeld, executive director of the Scarborough Economic Development Corp., looks at a 6-acre parcel of state-owned land near Route 1, he sees a property suitable for commercial development.

But residents of nearby Elmwood Avenue see the land another way: as a much-needed buffer between their neighborhood and the bustling intersection of Route 1 and the Scarborough Connector to the Maine Turnpike and I-295.

The competing visions are now the subject of a debate as the town considers rezoning the parcel, bordered by Elmwood, Green Acres Lane and 1st Street, to make way for a development by Maine Eye Center.

The Portland-based eye specialist center, Rosenfeld said, has expressed an interest in the property, which in order to be developed must first be rezoned to a BO-R, or Business, Office or Research zone.

Maine Eye Center was expected to make a presentation of its proposal and drafts of its preliminary designs, which include plans for a 40,000-square-foot building, at a neighborhood meeting for residents near the property. The neighborhood meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 16, at Town Hall, after the Current’s deadline.

The goal of the meeting, Rosenfeld said, was to “make sure everyone who is involved or impacted knows what is going on.”

He said Maine Eye Center’s purchase of the land is contingent on the zoning change, which is expected to be before the Town Council for second reading, public hearing and possible adoption by early December. It would need the support of the majority of the council to pass.

But neighbors of the site reached before the meeting say the state Department of Transportation, which owns the land, promised to never sell the property between the residential neighborhood and commercial Route 1.

Nancy Agan, of 32 Elmwood Ave., said she enjoyed walking her new dog in and around the property this spring, watching the grass and wildflowers grow. In the past, she said, she has seen a moose in there, as well as turkey, deer and a whole host of birds.

“I am not happy about it at all,” Agan said about the rezoning proposal. “Especially for the wildlife there and for the sound barrier it provides.”

Rosenfeld said he was surprised when he got a call a few months back indicating the state was in the process of selling the land.

“They have always told me and they have always told the neighbors they would never sell that piece of property,” Rosenfeld said. “Well, things have changed. It is a very visible piece of property and generated interest immediately.”

Knowing the state had placed it on the market, Rosenfeld said, he and town officials wanted to be prepared when it did sell. After speaking with Town Manager Tom Hall and Town Planner Dan Bacon, Rosenfeld said, the trio concurred the property should not be zoned for residential use, but rather commercial use.

“We wanted to be proactive and be ready for development rather than scurrying around when something comes up,” he said.

The town, he said, has always been good at thinking and planning development possibilities well before they actually present themselves.

“One thing Scarborough has done well is planning where certain types of development should go,” Rosenfeld said. “I thought that we are keeping with that with this.”

According to the Scarborough Zoning Ordinance, the BO-R zone, adopted by the town in 2007, aims at providing an area in town that “allows for the growth and development of high quality office and research uses that result in the area becoming a major employment center.”

Rezoning it, Rosenfeld said, brings the property in line with nearby pieces of property that are already zoned for business, office and research use. The Maine Medical facilities, the Foundation for Blood Research, Elevation Center and Nonesuch River Plaza are examples of businesses that have started up around the property due to establishing the BO-R zone. Medical facilities, instructional and educational services, business and professional offices and restaurants without drive-throughs are some of the permitted uses in the zone.

“I started the process without any specific business in mind, just types of businesses that could work,” Rosenfeld said. “There is no guarantee Maine Eye will go through with this, but right now they are certainly interested.”

The purpose of the neighborhood meeting, Rosenfeld said, is to get public input about the prospects of rezoning the piece of property.

“What we have always tried to do is balance the needs of residents with the needs of businesses and the town,” Rosenfeld said. “I think this type of use does that.”

For years, Rosenfeld said, residents in the neighborhood have enjoyed the piece of property as a quiet green space that buffers them from the Scarborough Connector Road, which connects Interstate 295 with Route 1.

Some of this buffer would certainly disappear when the land gets sold and developed, whether by Maine Eye Center or another business. The biggest concern of residents, Rosenfeld said, was not the prospect of rezoning the property, but rather the fact the state was in the process of selling the land after owning it for decades.

“We are not happy about it,” said Shirley Gruber, a resident of 23 Elmwood Ave. “The state said they would never sell it. I guess now we will have to see what happens. It is certainly going to be different.”

Mark Latti, spokesman for the Maine Department of Transportation, denied the department said it would never sell the land, but did indicate that during the 50 years the state has owned the property, it was never actively looking to develop the land. That changed with a phone call in August.

The lot is under contract with the buyer, who Latti would not confirm is Maine Eye Center. He said he could not discuss the terms of the sale. The property is being listed for $695,000 with CBRE | The Boulos Co.

“We certainly didn’t have plans for it,” Latti said. “We were contacted this summer by someone interested in buying the lot. We looked at it to see if it was needed and it was not.”