đź“°BIDDEFORD | City of Biddeford Concludes UNE Pier Appeal Following SRCC Permit-Extension Vote
“Biddeford residents raised legitimate questions about whether that longstanding shoreline protection was being honored,” Mayor Liam LaFountain said. “We wanted those questions investigated, and we deserved answers.”
By Danica Lamontagne, City of Biddeford
September 8, 2026, The City of Biddeford will conclude its pending appeal concerning the Saco River Corridor Commission’s 2024 approval of the University of New England research pier after the Commission voted to extend UNE’s permit with full knowledge of a longstanding shoreline protection that had not been addressed in the original approval.
“Biddeford residents raised legitimate questions about whether that longstanding shoreline protection was being honored,” Mayor Liam LaFountain said. “We wanted those questions investigated, and we deserved answers.”
While the City’s appeal remained pending, UNE requested an extension of its permit earlier this year. In considering that request, the SRCC had before it the 2001 order and its requirement that UNE maintain a 250-foot vegetative buffer along the Saco River shoreline. On August 26, 2026, the Commission voted 7–3 to extend the permit, with Biddeford’s alternate SRCC representative, Jim LaBelle, casting one of the three dissenting votes.
This vote represents a clear and significant departure from the Commission’s 2001 written findings of fact, in which SRCC commissioners determined that “a 250 foot no development buffer is the most secure method of protecting the river from land use development impacts in perpetuity.”
“Today’s SRCC acknowledged that same restriction but reached a fundamentally different conclusion about what protecting this environmentally sensitive shoreline requires,” LaFountain added. “There is no longer any question about where the Commission stands.”
During the August 26 proceedings, the Commission’s chairman, Benjamin Pinault, characterized its authority to depart from prior orders this way: “We are, as an agency, allowed to amend our own stuff at any time.”
The SRCC’s consideration of the 2001 order, followed by its August 26 vote to extend the permit, has changed what further litigation could realistically accomplish. In light of that vote and the SRCC’s stated view of its authority, the City has decided not to continue its appeal.
“The appeal accomplished an essential purpose: bringing the 2001 shoreline protection into full public view and requiring the SRCC to address it directly,” LaFountain said. “Even if the City obtained another review, the matter would return to the same Commission and likely produce the same result. Spending additional taxpayer dollars to continue litigation under those circumstances is not the responsible way forward.”
Mayor LaFountain thanked the Biddeford City Council and Biddeford residents for their determined pursuit of transparency throughout the proceedings.
“We wanted the 2001 record examined, and important questions answered,” said Ward 1 City Councilor Patricia Boston. “In 2024, the SRCC acted without considering the 250-foot protection of an area that includes but also extends well beyond the proposed pier project. In 2026, it acted with full knowledge of it. Our persistence helped bring the underlying issue into the open, and that matters.”
“The Saco River is one of Maine’s great environmental treasures, and the City pursued this appeal in good faith on behalf of residents who deserved to know whether a longstanding protection of its shoreline was being honored,” LaFountain said. “That question has now been answered, and Biddeford will move forward by continuing to advocate for responsible stewardship of the river and transparency in decisions affecting our shoreline and natural resources.”
A spokesperson for UNE released the following statement:
"UNE appreciates the City of Biddeford's decision to dismiss its appeal and welcomes the clarity provided through the Saco River Corridor Commission. The SRCC's recent vote reaffirmed the validity of UNE's permit and confirmed that activities within the 250-foot vegetative buffer remain subject to the Commission's oversight and approval.
After years of environmental review, public hearings, and regulatory scrutiny, UNE remains confident that the project can move forward while protecting the Saco River and its surrounding environment. We are hopeful we can return to a strong and collaborative relationship with the Mayor and City Council for the benefit of Biddeford residents and UNE students alike.
As for next steps, there should be no reason for the city to further delay issuing permits. The City has made it clear that IZRC’s recommendations are for future projects and won’t apply to the pier or the Decary renovation project."
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