Saco City Council Meeting March 2, 2026: Road Diet, Moratorium, Zoning
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Saco City Council Meeting – March 2, 2026
The Saco City Council met on March 2, 2026, at 6:30 PM to discuss the Portland Road Route 1 road diet, public testimony on the Blue Haven mobile home park moratorium, a proposed repeal of that moratorium, and a zoning map amendment for Flag Pond Road. The council voted 7-0 to approve minutes and a consent item, and after extensive debate, voted 6-1 to place the moratorium repeal on the March 9, 2026 agenda.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes of February 2, 2026 and February 9, 2026 (7-0).
- Approved massage therapist license application for Leah Hardy (7-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Sarah Johns Gardner (17 Pine Haven Street) urged the council to keep the moratorium, alleging the mediated agreement process was inconsistent, opaque, and coercive. She stated residents received different versions of materials, critical pages were missing, and signatures were collected under pressure. She asked the council to move toward a transparent rent stabilization ordinance.
- Lisa DeRoscher (18 Pine Haven Street) asked what mechanisms would remain to protect residents if the moratorium were lifted, emphasizing the need for fairness and transparency.
- Sarah Belanger (5 Sparrow Drive; formerly of Blue Haven) expressed full support for maintaining the moratorium and drafting a rent stabilization ordinance. She noted many residents live on fixed incomes and cannot absorb sudden rent increases, arguing mobile home parks were never intended as high-yield investments.
- Barb Thomas (Two Meserve Circle, Blue Haven) provided a packet detailing the formation of the Blue Haven Resident Cooperative, aiming to transition the park to resident ownership. She described the cooperative as a tool to protect against displacement and predatory rent increases.
- An anonymous resident (statement read by a speaker who declined to identify the resident due to fear) described pressure to sign agreements, confusion over rent credits, and fear of retaliation.
- Donna Stevens (32 Pinehaven Street) asked the council to maintain the moratorium and pursue formal rent stabilization, noting that out-of-state equity firms are undermining housing stability.
- Rodney Champagne (17 Clayton Drive, Blue Haven Residents Committee) stated residents are increasingly afraid to speak publicly due to fear of retaliation. He described the mediated process as inconsistent and lacking transparency, and asked the council to investigate residents' concerns.
- Richard Bryant (attorney for Blue Haven MHP LLC) presented a letter stating that the owner has signed agreements with 170 of 251 households (60%), and 78% of affected households. He offered additional concessions: credits to offset the March rent increase for all affected households (not just signers), and a commitment to discuss selling the park to residents. He argued the mediated agreement eliminates the need for the moratorium.
Discussion Items
- Portland Road Route 1 Road Diet Update: Deputy Administrator Prescott and Director Moore reported that the Maine DOT provided 12 comments on the road diet analysis and cannot support permanent implementation without a demonstration project. A demonstration project was deemed unfeasible due to cost and contractor constraints. The project will be referred back to the Traffic Safety Committee. The existing four-lane configuration will remain unchanged.
- Repeal of Emergency Moratorium on Mobile Home Park Lot Rent Increases: Councilor Johnston moved to repeal the emergency ordinance, arguing the mediated agreement resolved the emergency because a majority of residents supported it. Councilors Doyle, Edwards, Gale, and Hewitt expressed concerns about the late‑arriving letter from the owner's attorney, the lack of a legally binding contract, and residents' fear of coercion. The council suspended rules to allow the owner's attorney, committee representatives, and others to speak. After extensive debate, Councilor Johnston withdrew his motion and instead moved to place the repeal on the March 9, 2026 agenda. The motion passed 6-1 (Councilor Doyle dissenting).
- Zoning Map Amendment Petition (BAAS Holding Company): Director Tettelman presented a petition to rezone two parcels (approx. 60 acres) on Flag Pond Road from Industrial (I) to Portland Road (PR) to allow mixed-use development. The applicant's engineer, Drew Dagnan, cited environmental constraints, utility infrastructure, and alignment with the comprehensive plan. Councilors Doyle and Johnston noted the city's need to preserve industrial land for tax base and expressed concerns about precedent. The item will be reviewed by the Planning Board before returning to council.
Key Outcomes
- Minutes approved (7-0).
- Consent item approved (7-0).
- Moratorium repeal: Original motion withdrawn; new motion to place on March 9, 2026 agenda passed 6-1.
- Road diet: Will be discussed at Traffic Safety Committee; no immediate changes.
- Zoning amendment: Referred to Planning Board for public hearing and recommendation.
- Administrative updates: Road weight restrictions effective March 2; homestead exemption deadline April 1; budget process begins March 16.
- Council comments: Councilor Doyle requested a legal opinion on the seasonal rental ordinance; City Administrator Pelletier reported a meeting scheduled with the attorney.
Next meeting: March 9, 2026, with the moratorium repeal item on the agenda.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Sacco City Council meeting for March 2nd, 2026 at 6:30. I do apologize for the issue that we had with the door. We are getting that worked and fixed at this moment. And to start the meeting, before we follow the call the official start to order, um, I do have deputy administrator Prescott and Director Moore who will be presenting information regarding the Portland Road Route 1 road diet. Good evening, Mayor, City Council, and City Administrator. We just wanted to give an update to the road diet. Previously we had a presenter who was gonna come from BHB who did our analysis, but uh we got a letter from DOT in response to our submission, so we just kind of wanted to go over a few things with that. So with the letter that we received, they provided 12 comments back to us, and of those 12 comments, some of them had multiple pieces. So kind of where we're at right now is they had they had suggested that right now they can't support the road diet based on how the analysis was performed. They would prefer that this was done as a demonstration project. There's not a uh a road diet that has gone in permanently without a um demonstration project. And right now our plan is to bring this back to traffic safety, who would you know approve the original request and share the the letter with them, and we can certainly look at other options. We have the uh Portland Road Master Plan, we have reimagined Route One, so there's other there's other avenues that we can bring safety improvements to Route One, but unfortunately, right now with the tight time frame that they have with their project and they're gonna be advertising it in a couple of weeks. It this is not gonna be uh an option at this point. Okay, great. Thank you. Any questions or comments for Director Moore? Councilor Gale? Just uh in terms of the demonstration, what would a demonstration project look like if that was something we'd be interested in? So unfortunately, right now, where they're gonna be paving that, it doesn't really give us an option for a demonstration project. We reached out to them last summer and was trying to work through a demonstration project, and it got to uh to a stage where they were requiring us to do a thin overlay and restrict the roadway in order to do the temporary configuration, and it just came became unfeasible for the city to expend the amount of money to do a demonstration project. And we did look at if they could do one in between the milling and shimming, paint the demonstration project, and then come back and do the final surface pavement, but they are concerned with contractor availability and the added cost to have a contractor mobilized twice. So we did look at that option as well. Okay, great. Yep. Quick follow-up question. So when it goes back to traffic safety, are the folks um who um who came and presented public comment? Are those do we have a good set of contact names and lists that we can send out to notify those folks, even though a project may not necessarily be occurring? Yes, we can go ahead and uh talk with traffic safety about potentially notifying them of the change. Um we did go back and look at our em our uh mailing and email distribution lists over the period, and many of those folks were were on it in some fashion. So we have we think we have enough info to certainly send out, but we'll have that conversation with traffic safety first. Councilor Hewitt. Just to confirm, um the it will continue to be two lanes north and two lane south until otherwise. Correct. It'll be the same configuration that there is right now. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Do we know at this time? Is it planned for the March 19th traffic safety meeting, or will we be looking at April? No, we'll uh we'll have that on the March. Okay. Yep, thank you. Okay, not seeing any additional questions. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, moving on to call the official meeting to order. I would like to make note of all members present this evening, including our city administrator Ryan Pelletier, and would you please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance? Great.
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