SCARBOROUGH – A week before the presentation of an updated proposal for a new Scarborough Beach parking lot, some neighborhood residents are already preparing for the trouble they believe the project would bring.

On March 9, Seth Sprague is scheduled to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals to outline an amended plan for a 500-vehicle lot to be constructed on the 64-acre site off Black Point Road. The site, located next to Scarborough Beach State Park, would serve as an additional access point to the beach.

Sprague, who owns the land and also operates the nearby state park, said the plan meets the criteria laid out in the town’s zoning ordinances, and also addresses many of the problems with the plan put forth by residents at a public hearing in late January, including the placement of picnic areas and buffering between the facility and neighbors.

Due to neighbors’ reactions, a lawyer representing Sprague asked the board to delay its decision until March 9. If the board approves the plan, it would go to the Planning Board.

“We are optimistic what we are presenting meets the criteria we need to meet, but the decision is really up to the board. We will continue to make the arguments we have that we are meeting the standards that are required,” Sprague said.

Nevertheless, Sprague said, he doesn’t expect the new plans to be any better received than the plans that were presented on Jan. 31.

“I think the neighbors are not going to be happy if we do anything with the property,” he said. “We are trying to make it a more attractive facility.”

He may be right. Judy Mitchell, who has lived at 386R Black Point Road since 1974, said she and her husband Robert do not want to fight the development, and do not want to deal with what they feel it would do to the area. So they have put their home up for sale.

“You can either live here and deal with it, or move. We chose to move,” she said.

Mitchell, who plans to move to a 10-acre property in Gorham as soon as the Black Point Road property sells, said the development would forever change the neighborhood.

“For the people like us, who have lived here for 30 years, it will never be the same no matter how many alterations he makes in his plan,” she said.

Longtime Scarborough Beach resident Martha Ritchie, who has lived at 4 Sprague Way for 40 years, worries the development would hurt her property value and her quality of life.

“It certainly will devalue my property, because I will be able to hear it and I will smell the fumes from the nearby cars,” Ritchie has said. “It will be a huge change for this neighborhood. We have lived here 40 years and we’ve been very spoiled to be able to walk down to the beach and have plenty of room when we were there.”

The section of property that Sprague is looking to develop sits partially in the Rural Farming, or RF, zone, which aims to protect agriculture in town. The rest of the property sits in the Resource Protection zone. Last May the town passed a measure that would allow commercial outdoor recreation in the RF zone, provided it met certain criteria.

According to the Scarborough Zoning Ordinance, the criteria state the development of land can only be limited to facilities and buildings that support the primary recreational activity. Permitted facilities and buildings include, but are not limited to, restrooms, clubhouses, warming huts, or a facility for the sale of refreshments to people. Adequate off-street parking must be provided and the recreational use “must not create any adverse impacts for abutting properties as a result of noise or odors.”

Sprague believes his plans meet the criteria and would only provide better access to the beach.

One of the ways the Sprague Corp. is looking to separate the parking and facilities from abutting neighbors is by using earth berms. The updated plan that will be presented on March 9 outlines specifics regarding those berms.

According to the plan, the two sections of berms, which would be placed behind the Mitchell property and next to the driveway leading up to the Quimby property at the end of Spraque Way, would be 4 to 10 feet in height with 8- to 10-foot trees native to the area.

Mitchell said she is not convinced that would hide the parking lot that would be popping up just outside her backyard.

“A berm isn’t going to help any when you have a thousands of people going to the beach right next to your backyard,” Mitchell said.

According the new plans, the facility would have five picnic tables, three close to the proposed concession/changing room facility and two at the end of the beach access trail. The group picnic area and two of the five individual picnic shelters, as well as a small playground for children, would be housed just outside the concession stand.

The updated plan includes a half-mile of trails near the entrance off Black Point Road, as well as an improved trail from the parking lot to the beachfront. On the days when it is not needed for parking, the grass parking area could be used for recreational purposes, such as kite flying, volleyball, soccer, touch football or Frisbee.

The plan also includes the possibility of using a field off of Sprague Way and behind the Ritchie property for agricultural purposes and as a way to make up for some of the loss of agricultural land due to the development of the parking facility.

Sprague said he would continue to talk to neighbors as the plan moves forward.

“We continue to talk with representatives of the neighborhood groups to see if there are ways to work together,” Sprague said.