Planning Board Holds Workshops on Winter Street Housing and Cassidy Point Stadium

The Portland Planning Board held two workshops on September 22, taking no votes. The first covered a nine-unit condo project at 101 and 105 Winter Street, and the second covered a zoning change at 92 Cassidy Point Drive to allow a soccer stadium for Hearts of Pine. Public comment on the stadium drew strong support and strong opposition over the future of the working waterfront.

Key points

• No votes were taken; both items were workshops for early board feedback.
• The Winter Street proposal would merge two lots for a nine-unit condo development with 13 structured parking spaces and three requested waivers for a one-way drive aisle.
• Board members largely supported the Winter Street waivers, and a neighbor praised the project compared with past development on the street.
• The Cassidy Point application seeks to rezone about 13.8 acres from the Waterfront Port Development Zone to B-5 and add stadiums as a permitted use.
• Supporters cited the team's community impact, waterfront public access, and cleanup of a contaminated site; opponents warned that rezoning would permanently remove scarce deep-water working waterfront land.
• Staff said any stadium use in B-5 should come with supplemental performance standards covering lighting, noise, and minimum lot size.

Next steps

• Staff will continue review and schedule a second workshop on the Cassidy Point application.
• The applicant will present a traffic study framework and an economic analysis of the port at a future workshop.
• The board asked for more information on the viability of the retained pier and deep-water berthing.
• The Planning Board's recommendation on the zoning change will ultimately go to the City Council.

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