CAPE ELIZABETH – Cape Elizabeth’s Town Center Planning Committee has been given an extra six months to complete a report detailing recommendations for how the zoning district around the schools, town office and library should be encouraged to develop.

The Town Council granted the extension to June 30, 2014, at its Dec. 9 meeting. The nine-member committee convened in May with an eye toward reviewing a 37-point town center plan last updated in 1993.

“We’ve updated some of those, we’ve struck some, and we’re going to come back to the council with recommendations,” said Councilor Jamie Wagner, a member of the committee. “We also are poring through the comments from 80-plus survey respondents in a lot of categories, and we’ve decided we’re going to deliberate further on those because there’s a lot of material, a lot of data, and a tremendous difference of opinion, contained in them.”

Surveys, emails and public hearing comments have been divided, with some favoring the committee’s presumed goal of drafting zoning rules that would encourage the development of a traditional village business center around the intersection of Shore and Scott Dyer roads with Route 77, while others would rather preserve the town’s rural character.

Since the committee began its work, two significant town center businesses the Key Bank branch office and the Mobil On the Run gas station and convenience store have closed their doors.

At its most recent meeting, the committee reviewed 83 survey cards submitted at an October public hearing. Those responses seem to indicate far more interest in traffic through the town’s primary intersection than with business growth around it.

More than three quarters of respondents (75.3 percent) favored extending the sidewalk network at the intersection, while a clear majority (61.7 percent) favored installation of some traffic-calming measures. However, far fewer (39.5 percent) felt Cape Elizabeth was ready for a second traffic light, to compliment the one further down Route 77 at the entrance to the high school.

Still, far fewer survey takers were ready to embrace the nominal vision of the town center plan, to encourage greater development along a traditional village plan, with taller buildings closer to the road, split into ground-floor retail shops and second-story apartments. Just 41.2 percent favored relaxing zoning rules to encourage business growth in the town center, while even fewer, 34.2 percent, gave the thumbs-up to an increase in multi-family housing.

Meanwhile, what most people at the public hearing did say was that Cape needs a public green in the center of town. Calls for a “town green” or public gathering spot came from 72.7 percent of survey respondents, although descriptions of what exactly that should include ran the gamut, with a skate park, an ice skating rink, an amphitheater, a playground, a town Christmas tree and a farmers market among the amenities requested.

According to Councilor David Sherman, who also sits on the town center planning committee, the group has completed “about two-thirds” of its work, and the balance of the council agreed to allow time requested to complete its task. The final say on the committee’s recommendations will fall to the Town Council.

“They’ll present us with their recommendations, we’ll have workshops, we’ll have a hearing,” said Council Chairwoman Jessica Sullivan. “We’ll have plenty of opportunity to review everything, and there will be plenty of opportunities for comment. But I’m certainly in favor of letting them finish their job.”

Most residents seem willing to let the committee carry the load on what advice should be given to the council. Only 42.1 percent said a firm should be hired to conduct a scientific survey of residents. Meanwhile, a mere 27.8 percent favored spending money to commission a study on the economic development potential of the town center zone.

At least one resident has voiced displeasure with the town center planning committee spending any money at all.

“There is a segment of town government that seems to only feel comfortable with an endless cycle of large public projects and the expenditure of hard-earned tax money,” wrote Shore Road resident Alan Atkins in a Nov. 20 letter to Town Planner Maureen O’Meara.

Atkins’ missive drew particular attention given that it was submitted on letterhead from his Portland law firm. In the letter, Atkins alleged that the October survey was biased, designed only to give the planning committee cover for any zoning changes under the sheen of public support.

“I trust that the Town Center Planning Committee and you will abandon this project,” wrote Adkins, addressing O’Meara.