Errant golf balls play role in project delay

SOUTH PORTLAND – Errant tee shots are playing a role in the delay of construction of an $8 million four-story office building near the Maine Mall.

Pinnacle Partners of Braintree, Mass., is seeking state and local approval for a 119,000-square-foot building that would be comparable in size to the offices of Fairchild Semiconductor International off Interstate 95.

Progress on the proposed project, however, is being slowed in part because of concerns over errant golf balls sliced from the third tee at Sable Oaks Golf Club.

The office building would be nestled against the third fairway on what is currently a wooded lot.

Sable Oaks hopes the two sides can resolve the issue as well as other concerns, including landscaping and water runoff.

Attorneys for Sable Oaks have approached the state Department of Environmental Protection and South Portland planners with their concerns. State and local officials said they are looking at landscaping, right-of-ways and runoff, but likely will not get involved with the issue of errant golf shots.

“That is kind of a separate issue, something the attorneys from both parties will have to work out,” said Bill Bullard, project manager for DEP.

City Planner Charles “Tex” Haeuser and the city’s Conservation Commission have reviewed Pinnacle’s proposal. The planning board will walk the site next month and could vote on a site plan as early as the end of May.