SOUTHWEST HARBOR – The planning board Thursday approved the first of several phases of the Cranberry Isles’ proposed pier and parking complex, approving a parking lot for 139 vehicles and a 24-foot access road.

The board approved the application unanimously, although they agreed they would have preferred to see plans for the entire project at once.

The planning board’s approval of an initial parking lot and access road on Shore Road was a significant victory for Cranberry Isles officials, who have asked voters to spend $2.4 million to buy the waterfront Southwest Harbor property for the islands’ first-ever mainland pier and parking area.

In a special town meeting July 30, Cranberry Isles residents voted 87-10 to allow selectmen to complete a purchase and sale agreement on the 3-acre parcel abutting the Hinckley boatyard. The property includes a pier and barge landing, and enough space for 300 parking spots.

Cranberry Isles selectmen envision a transportation hub on the site someday, where people could transfer from boats, cars, buses and bikes.

But the island voters, facing a possible 50 percent increase in property taxes to pay for the project over 20 years, wanted more financial information. They also wanted some assurance that the property can be used for the purposes envisioned.

A second special town meeting will be held on Little Cranberry Island on Wednesday, Aug. 21, at 5 p.m., when voters will be asked to give final approval.

The Southwest Harbor Planning Board had agreed to hold a special meeting Thursday to hear the initial application before next week’s special town meeting. But some board members said they were worried their approval of the first phase would imply that all of what they proposed would be approved.

Engineer Jeffrey Crafts of Southwest Harbor, project consultant to the islands, faced many questions from the board and the 30 people who attended the public hearing – most of them neighbors to the proposed site.

Neighbors were concerned about what the entire project would look like and how it would affect their way of life along the ocean’s shore. Traffic, noise and light were common concerns among residents.

Board Chairman Dick Martin told residents that the Cranberry Isles was not obligated to file its entire project at once.

“We’re asking for what the islanders need right now,” Crafts said.

The Cranberry Isles plans to take its time developing the project, but residents’ biggest need was ample parking space near the water. The island residents now fight for parking spaces in Northeast Harbor, and there are only about half of the spaces needed during the summer months when the island population grows from 110 to 550.

The parking headaches have long dogged the islands, and after Northeast Harbor further restricted parking to residents this spring, selectmen decided to name a committee and search for land on Mount Desert Island that would give them both water access and parking space.

If Cranberry Isles voters give the project final approval, Crafts would return first for more parking space, lighting and a pedestrian way from the parking lot to the existing pier.

The access road is an existing driveway off Mansel Lane that will be widened to 24 feet under the proposal.

The proposed site is owned by developer Pritam Singh and includes shorefront, the former Jarvis Newman boatyard, a vacant wooded lot and the Hinckley insurance and realty property.

Crafts won approval for the parking plan in just over three hours.