The City of Portland Planning Board on Jan. 28 approved a site plan and a set of waivers for a Jetport proposal to expand long‑term parking at 1001 Westbrook St., but only after imposing conditions that require additional environmental protections and design refinements.

The Jetport and its consultant team presented revisions to a previously tabled application. Airport Director Paul Bradbury and his consultants described changes made since the board’s November meeting, including shifting an on‑site battery‑storage area and reducing the net parking gain from 284 to 265 spaces "to preserve a larger buffer area at the intersection of Jeffport Boulevard and International Parkway," Bradbury said. The team also added interior pedestrian walkways, three shuttle docks, relocated accessible parking spaces closer to shuttle stops, island landscaping, and additional stormwater treatment designed to meet city review and delegated review expectations.

The application originally included six waiver requests; staff said it supports the waivers. The board considered and approved the waivers and final site plan in separate votes. Among the technical matters discussed were: the functional value of the wetlands on the parcel slated for fill (the applicant identified about 11,151 square feet of wetland alteration), alternatives analysis for adding parking elsewhere on airport property, tree‑planting and landscaping quantities and locations, EV charging levels, and operational questions including trash hauling and shuttle arrangements for passengers and employees.

Bradbury said wetlands proposed for fill were isolated, forested pockets bounded by existing development, and that state and federal reviews were underway. He told the board a Tier‑3 permitting application had been submitted and that the Army Corps of Engineers had issued its permit; Maine DEP review was in the final stages. The Jetport proposed, as a condition of approval, to establish a conservation easement on higher‑value wetlands north of Jeffport Boulevard at least equivalent in hydrologic value and area to the wetlands being altered on the project site.

Landscape architect Amy Bell Tagal described the project’s planting strategy: the team proposes 26 interior island trees, about 31 trees in enhanced perimeter planting beds along the site’s internal roads and Jetport Boulevard, and additional buffers near Westbrook Street and the Embassy Suites parcel. The applicant provided an alternate diagram showing the consequences of shifting interior tree plantings into islands: doing so would reduce net parking by about 93 spaces and result in denser (and less ideal) tree placement in the interior islands, the team said.

Members of the public expressed concerns about the project’s timing and scale, the adequacy of the Jetport’s parking demand analysis, impacts on wetlands and stormwater runoff, light and sound impacts, and whether a parking garage (rather than expanded surface parking) or long‑term off‑site leased parking and shuttle service would be a better alternative. The airport team said a garage option has been evaluated in the Jetport master plan and that some large/oversize vehicles (rental vans, oversized trucks) cannot be accommodated in existing or proposed structured garage clearances; that operational need informed the decision to pursue surface parking.

After debate, the board voted to grant the requested waivers and to approve the site plan with conditions. The motion approving the site plan passed on a 4–1 roll call vote. Key conditions included requirements that the applicant: provide a survey and hydrologic analysis demonstrating the proposed conservation area north of Jeffport Boulevard is equal or greater in hydrologic value than the wetlands being impacted; prepare a draft conservation easement for city review and approval and record it prior to occupancy; satisfy outstanding stormwater and technical review comments and finalize the lighting/landscaping plans; and either plant trees on site or pay the tree fund payment in lieu for required trees (the staff report cited an in‑lieu payment figure per tree as a standard option).

Ending: The board’s approval clears the way for construction once the permit conditions are met; the decision requires the airport to document and record a conservation easement and to satisfy remaining technical review comments before the certificate of occupancy will be issued.