The Portland Rugby Football Club plans to construct of two recreational rugby fields at 122 Two Rod Road in Scarborough and sought sketch plan approval by the Scarborough Planning Board. The Portland Rugby Football Club has worked with the Planning Department to submit this application for two rugby fields, a clubhouse, bleachers.
The sketch plan submittal did not result in any immediate action by the Planning Board, leaving room for continued deliberations on this project.
The proposed project is located in the Rural Farming District, which only permits commercial outdoor recreation uses as “special exception,” and requires approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals. The ZBA approved the use April 12, which allows the applicant to seek approval by the Planning Board. The sketch plan will need to be followed by a formal site plan review with the board.
The Portland Rugby Football Club’s proposal is for the construction of two rugby fields at 122 and 140 Two Rod Road. Eric Sanderson, senior planner for Scarborough, said the Portland Rugby Football Club is seeking to build an outdoor recreation facility with two pitches, one of which is for practice. “Staff has identified possible discussion items that may be of interest to the board, including requiring parking, emergency vehicle access as well as historic implications as the project is listed in the town’s historic list of properties and the zoning ordinance. The applicant’s been referred to the historic preservation implementation committee for review.”
Matthew Winch, an architect and the vice chair of the Board of Directors for the Portland Rugby Football Club, gave an overview of the club’s history and the proposed facility. “The Portland Rugby Club dates back to 1969,” Winch said. “We celebrated our 50th anniversary a few years ago and enjoyed a robust existence over those 50 years, starting in the Brunswick area as an off-shoot of a rugby team and then slowly established ourselves in the Portland area in the early 1970s.”
Detailing the journey of the club, Winch said, “A few years ago, both of our entities merged together to create a singular entity for the purposes of developing a permanent future home for the rugby club as the use and needs of fields were consumed by others in communities around us.”
Winch said they spent several years looking at different properties before finally settling on the Scarborough property. He said they closed on that property in June 2022. “It was transferred a few months later by a donor who had purchased the property for us and turned it over to the club in September 2022. We are the deeded owners of the property now at this point,” Winch said.
Winch described the main field as the “Maine Championship pitch,” a regulation full-size rugby field accompanied by parking for 75 cars, bleachers, and a potential future clubhouse. “The construction of the clubhouse wouldn’t happen concurrent at our developments at this time. We see it as a phase 2 process moving forward just for financial reasons,” he said.
Winch said there are structural challenges to the property and a house on 122 Two Rod Road. “We had a structural engineer review 122 Two Rod Road house. We were actually intending to save it. After the structural engineer walked through it and noted a lot of issues, the safest thing, unfortunately, is to remove the house.”
For the proposed club house, Winch said “We’re looking at a two-story structure that would be built on a downslope leading from the fields. The lower-level locker room would actually be daylight access. The upstairs space would be a general assembly space that would be used during club activities. … The lower level is a series of locker rooms.”
Jessica Hollbrook, a volunteer for the Historical Preservation Implementation Committee, contributed to the discussion by presenting historical perspectives about 122 Two Rod Road. “There is a family with the surname Green associated with this property. It is noted to have a cemetery on the property,” she said. “It is also associated with a prominent early Scarborough family with ties to the revolutionary war.”
Responding to the historical significance of the property, Winch said, “We would set aside a plot area, but the surveyor couldn’t find any potential burial site.”
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