For a second time, the Boothbay Planning Board tabled a building permit request from Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. The board voted 4-0 Nov. 16 to delay voting on the proposal. The board wants more time to review recently received supplemental information regarding the expansion project. It also wants an independent consultant to review the materials consisting of several environmental reports submitted by Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers.

In October, CMBG submitted an application to construct a visitor center and gift shop, a new entrance, road improvements to the entrance, and new visitor and staff parking lots. The board wanted a site review before voting and tabled the request. The board conducted the site review on Oct. 28.

On Nov. 16, the board, again, tabled the request. The members had recently received additional supplemental project information a few days before the meeting.

Ultimately, the board scheduled a special meeting for 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 15 in the municipal building to vote on the Botanical Gardens’ expansion project.

CMBG officials believed tabling the voted may unnecessarily delay the project. Executive Director Bill Cullina expressed concern if the project didn’t proceed in January, it would be delayed until next year.

“We’ve done everything to meet the published ordinance water quality standards. If the town wants to change those in the future, you can, but we are dealing with the science and facts presented to us, now,” he said.

Boothbay Region Water District officials also wanted more time to review the supplemental materials. BRWD Watershed Program Manager Sue Mello had concerns about the DEP’s and Army Corps of Engineers’ conclusions. She characterized the data as being based on models, and at best, the conclusions were “approximations of reality, sold as reality.”

“Give us some time to evaluate this report. It’s essential to do so because you can’t make a decision unless you really know, and look at all the alternatives,” she said.

Mello expressed doubts about the proposed parking lot expansion. The proposal calls for nearly doubling the lot to approximately 800 spaces.  According to Mello, the reports used San Francisco, Ontario and Vancouver as models for centers with 300,000 visitors annually. She didn’t agree these locations were applicable to Boothbay, a small rural, isolated community located on a peninsula, in gauging the Botanical Gardens’ parking needs.

“This proposal calls for displacing large areas of wetlands and forest for parking only needed a couple months per year. It would behoove the Botanical Gardens to look at other parking options such as shuttle services,” Mello said.

The expansion plan is part of CMBG’s 20-year Master Plan drafted in 2012. The overall plan is a $30-plus million expansion project, according Botanical Garden officials.

CMBG board member Paula Swetland of Edgecomb assured the planning board the project wasn’t about creating a bigger facility, but rather to expand the center’s potential into a year round destination.

“It was never about becoming bigger, bigger, bigger. The reason I’m on the board is to bring a better visitors’ experience, and we are doing this as responsibly as we can,” she said.

The planning board also heard from the Anthony family, CMBG’s largest abutter. Vaughn and Joanne Anthony are the property owners and reside on Gaecklin Road. The Anthonys and their sons have consistently opposed the project. Vaughn Anthony and his sons, Kevin and Jason, spoke during the Nov. 16 meeting and previous ones. And a third generation was heard from during the Nov. 16 meeting. Grandson Wyatt Anthony echoed his family’s concerns about having a Wal-Mart-sized parking lot existing 200 feet from your home.

“Something happening next door shouldn’t make you want to move,” he said.

The public can view the supplemental information by viewing electronic copies being made available at the town office prior to the special meeting, according to Chairman Alan Bellows.