BANGOR – Residents of Silver Road and Webster Avenue told City Council members Wednesday night that they do not want a 5.7-acre wooded parcel of city-owned land on New York Street sold for development.

The property faces New York Street, which runs from Webster Avenue to the Bangor Municipal Golf Course. It abuts the rear of properties that front Silver Road.

The city bought the property about a year ago for $200,000 with an eye toward selling it to a developer who would build up to 25 single-family homes on the property. The parcel is zoned urban residential district 1, as is the surrounding neighborhood.

Councilors, meeting as the strategic issues committee, referred the matter to the business and economic development committee for further consideration without specifically indicating what they expected that group to do with the developer’s proposal.

If the group in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting had its say, the committee would kill the proposal.

Just six of the more than 50 people in attendance showed support for the plan when Mayor Michael Crowley took an informal poll of the group, asking for a show of hands to indicate support or opposition.

Zoning restrictions would limit potential development to single-family homes on lots of 10,000 square feet or more, according to Katherine Weber, director of planning. The site would have access to city water from Silver Road and would be subject to Bangor International Airport noise easements, since the parcel is in BIA’s flight path.

“Our priorities are maintaining the quality of life in Bangor’s neighborhoods, while encouraging the development of quality housing,” Weber said Wednesday night. “The property has been looked at in relation to the redevelopment of Bass Park, and the conclusion was that this property is most appropriate for future housing.”

In opposing the project, property owners voiced concerns about increased traffic in the neighborhood, increased demand on a water system that already lacked adequate pressure and the effect development would have on property values and taxes.

“That land has sort of become a recreation area in the neighborhood,” said former state representative and former City Councilor Catherine Leibowitz, who lives on Silver Road. “People cross-country ski through there to get to the golf course. And, there are a lot of wild animals that live there like skunks and woodchucks. They can be a bit of a nuisance, but I really do like them. They give me the feeling of not living in a city.”

Daniel Lee of Silver Road said he opposed a provision in the RFP that would allow for “other than single-family detached dwellings” on the property and asked if that meant apartment complexes or condominiums would be allowed.

City Manager Ed Barrett said the intent of the section was to allow developers to be creative, not to open the door for anything other than single-family homes. He stressed that the city’s lack of available housing in the mid- to upper-price range forced families to move to outlying communities. In 2000, only 30 new single-family homes were built in Bangor and there are just 30 single-family house lots available throughout the city, he said.

“If we are going to grow as a city,” said Councilor Frank Farrington, “then we have to use available land in a way that will increase the population and decrease the number of taxpayers shouldering the burden of the city’s tax base.”

The action of councilors Wednesday did little to reassure people living in the area near the golf course.

T. Russell Woolley III of Silver Road said after the meeting that he was glad the neighbors had the opportunity to express their opposition to the project, but still feared the negative impact of development.

In other matters, the council also referred to committee a decision about what to do with the city-owned Kobritz Building on Railroad Street. Options outlined included demolition or sale of the building. Original plans for the waterfront development called for the former meat locker to be destroyed.