The Boothbay Planning Board voted 5-0 to table the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens’ request for a building permit. The board decided on Oct. 19 that a site review was necessary before ruling on the application.

The CMBG is seeking a permit for its expansion plans. Project Manager Jan Wiegman of Wright-Pierce Engineering explained the project is part of the Botanical Gardens’ 20-year master plan. The expansion’s first phase includes a new visitors center, gift shop, new horticultural center and conservatory, and additional gardens. According to Wiegman, the expansion would allow more educational programming, trail development and other amenities such as a snack bar.

The expansion also calls for changing the Botanical Gardens’ entrance by paving the current gravel road and doubling the current number of paved parking spaces. The new parking lot would have over 800 spots, according to Wiegman.

The new visitors center would be a three-story building. The new structure’s first two levels would have office space and area for volunteers, restrooms and a lobby connecting to the adjacent gift shop.

The CMBG’s application also includes fire protection and plans to shield the Knickerbocker Lake watershed from storm water runoff. Fire Chief Dick Spofford and Boothbay Region Water District Superintendent Jon Ziegra both spoke about the proposal during the Oct. 19 meeting. Both indicated they are supportive of the CMBG’s expansion,  but they requested more detailed information.

Spofford had reviewed the fire protection plan, but he hadn’t spoken to CMBG officials about the details. He wanted more information about the use of public water from a nearby pond for fire protection.

“My concern is with the use of public water for a structure this size. People tell me this won’t happen or that won’t happen, but my experience is that things happen,” Spofford said. “I’d like to sit down and talk to them about this.”

Ziegra said he was “generally supportive of the expansion.” But he encouraged the board to review application details about fire protection and health safety.

The BRWD sent a four-page letter dated Oct. 19 to the board. It outlined concerns about the project. In the letter, Ziegra discussed public fire protection and life safety issues. He also mentioned concerns about potential adverse effects upon Knickerbocker Lake.

Based on Maine Volunteer Lake Monitor Program data, he cited the Maine Department Environmental Protection categorizing Knickerbocker Lake’s water quality as below average. The lake’s water meets state quality standards, but it is listed in the Maine Storm Water Law as “most at risk to new development.” The Lake is also on the state’s non-point source priority watershed list.

The BRWD’s letter outlined four recommendations for the CMBG’s application: relocate new structures outside the Knickerbocker Lake watershed, reduce parking or relocate it outside the watershed, mitigate phosphorus inputs and offset forest cover losses by placing a significant portion of undeveloped Knickerbocker Lake watershed property into a conservation easement, and monitor significant storm water events for five years and report the annual data to the planning board.

The board also heard from Vaughn Anthony whose Gaecklein Road farmhouse is the CMBG’s largest abutter. Anthony complained that CMBG had never reached out to him about the proposed expansion. Anthony’s sons, Kevin and Jason, said the proposed expansion would negatively impact the family property.

They believed increased attendance would only further erode the property’s livability. The brothers said the CMBG was too large for a general residential zone. They also believed their parents’ land value had decreased by $150,000.

Kevin Anthony described the proposed expansion as larger than local business developments such as in Newcastle with Reny’s distribution center and in Brunswick with Walmart and Mid Coast Hospital.

“I don’t think any one of you (planning board members) would seriously consider adding a Walmart in a residential zone. And I don’t think you should allow this expansion in a residential zone, either,” he said.

The board will reconvene its meeting at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28 with a site review at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, located at 132 Botanical Gardens Drive.