The Westbrook Planning Board will reconsider its vote to deny approval to an affordable housing project off Reed Street.

At a meeting on May 17, Community Housing of Maine, the non-profit agency behind the project, asked the board to reconsider its vote against the final site and subdivision plans for Clearwater Bend, a 23-unit affordable housing development.

The Planning Board voted, 4-3, against the project on May 3. Planning Board members Luc Bergeron, Brian Beattie, Anna Wrobel and Rene Daniel voted against the project. Chairman Ed Reidman and members Chris Parr and Greg Blake voted in favor of the project.

The committee unanimously agreed to reconsider its vote after hearing Community Housing of Maine’s request, and City Planner Brooks More said it would be on the agenda for the board’s June 7 meeting.

Cullen Ryan, executive director of Community Housing of Maine, said he was happy the board is going to take another look at the project. “We’re very pleased that they decided to reconsider,” he said. “We hope they consider the facts and rule in favor of the working people of Westbrook.”

While Ryan is pleased that the board is going to reconsider the project, the neighbors on Reed Street plan to continue to oppose the development of Clearwater Bend in their neighborhood.

Roger Dolloff, who has lived on Reed Street since 1940, said he wasn’t surprised at the decision to reconsider the vote, but he said he is hoping for the same result when the board meets June 7. “Hopefully, the (board) will hold and not cave in, and we’ll have the same result,” Dolloff said.

The proposal by Community Housing of Maine calls for five two-story buildings containing 20 townhouse-style rental units along with three handicap accessible units, with 60 percent of the available land left as open space. In addition to the housing, the development would also have parking for 45 cars and a community building with function rooms, laundry facilities and management offices. Ryan said the development was intended to be “workforce housing,” designed for working families earning between $21,000 and $43,000 a year.

In regard to concerns over traffic, Community Housing of Maine had a traffic engineer study the project, and Ryan said the study concluded that the project would not have a major effect on traffic in the area.

Dolloff said he believed that the project would add up to 100 car trips per day on Reed Street as people who live at Clearwater Bend travel to and from work and that would have a significant effect on the neighborhood despite what the Community Housing of Maine’s study shows.

In addition to concerns over increased traffic, Dolloff also said he had a problem with the location of the development. He said the parcel of land intended for Clearwater Bend is a landlocked parcel with no way to access Route 302 without going down Reed Street, which is presently a dead end street. He said he felt the development would overwhelm the Reed Street neighborhood. “It’s a bad mix,” Dolloff said.

Despite the concerns raised by the neighbors, Ryan said he felt the project was a good one for the city and was hopeful the board would change its vote to clear the way for the project.

If the board changes its earlier decision, Dolloff said he wasn’t sure what steps the neighbors would be able to take to continue their fight against it. He said they have limited resources to continue the fight. “I really can’t say what we’ll do,” said Dolloff.

The Planning Board will reconsider its vote on the development at a meeting on June 7 at 7 p.m. in room 114 of Westbrook High School. More said the board has not decided if it will take any more public comment on the matter at the meeting. He said the board would make that decision at the meeting.