The Westbrook City Council approved a zone change Monday for a parcel of land, now formally known as “Stroudwater Place,” between Stroudwater Street and the Westbrook Arterial, which now opens the door for developer J.B. Brown & Sons to purchase the property.

Vincent Veroneau, president and CEO of J.B. Brown & Sons, first presented his company’s proposal to the Planning Board last month, and the successful vote will now turn the property into a roughly 45-acre zone for potential commercial development, and a 15-acre zone for possible residential development.

The preliminary plan calls for some 18 housing lots stemming from Stroudwater Street, with a variety of development taking shape off the arterial, which might include retail space, a small hotel, and a possible multi-family dwelling.

With the council’s 6-1 vote, the new zone will replace the contract zone known as “Stroudwater Place,” which was an ambitious, 1.6 million-square-foot project proposed by former landowner Jason Snyder in 2008. Following foreclosure last year, the land was sold back to mortgage lender Kimco Capital.

The plan is seen by many as not economically viable and, according to Veroneau, it isn’t environmentally feasible either, given the presence of wetlands.

Also approved unanimously by the council was an “option and land development agreement” between the city and J.B. Brown, which stipulates that the developer will grant the city the option to acquire three of the proposed 18 house lots to be used as part of the building trades program of the Westbrook Regional Vocational Center, for the cost of developing the lots with the necessary infrastructure.

The agreement also stipulates that the residential zone would prohibit the development of multi-family structures and establishes an easement for a 10-foot buffer between the entire residential and commercial zones, allowing for the construction of a walking trail.

In a last-minute effort to sway Westbrook residents to stop the zone change from being approved, Snyder handed out flyers throughout the city Monday leading up to the meeting, which called J.B. Brown’s proposal “short-sighted.”

“The current Stroudwater Contract Zone is of strategic importance to the health and strength of our great city,” the flyer states. “Please attend the meeting tonight and let’s band together to defeat the current proposed zoning change. Westbrook deserves better and we’ll get there together.”

Snyder, speaking during the meeting, said that when he owned the land, he turned down offers from large stores such as Lowe’s and Wal-Mart because that type of development was “not appropriate for the gateway to the city of Westbrook. It shouldn’t be built upon until the appropriate project comes along.”

Others, such as Andrew Cook, of the Westbrook-Gorham Community Chamber, and Chris Hall of the Portland Regional Chamber, came out to support the zone change. Cook, reading from a letter already sent to city councilors said, “It’s important to let people know that Westbrook is open for business.”

Former City Councilor and current Westbrook state representative Drew Gattine, who also lives on Stroudwater Street across from the parcel, said Monday that he was opposed to the original Stroudwater Place development but has also had difficulty accepting the new plan.

“I guess I have a lukewarm support for the zone change,” he said. “But the proposal before you makes more sense than the current zone.”