BELFAST – Plans for developing the former Stinson Seafood plant on the city’s waterfront call for boat slips off the footbridge that would more than double the number of vessels the harbor now handles.

Developer Tom Roberts floated his ambitious plans for the former plant and its 5 acres of waterfront to the City Council on Tuesday.

The council chamber was filled with residents eager to hear what he had to say. Some dismissed the proposal before Roberts unveiled his sketches and drawings.

Council members sat with their mouths agape as Roberts displayed drawings of futuristic buildings lining Front Street along the entire 1,000 feet of the parcel’s harbor frontage. The estimated cost of the project is $8 million to $10 million.

According to the plan, the land-side portion of the glass-framed, arched buildings shaped to resemble spinnaker sails would house commercial and retail businesses.

The water side would include a travel lift to remove boats from the harbor and a marina with more than 500 slips. At present the entire harbor has about 400 slips and moorings.

The New Jersey resident’s plan calls for anchoring a series of eight finger piers to both sides of the footbridge spanning the Passagassawaukeag River.

He told the council that if the city allowed him to use the footbridge for commercial purposes, he would guarantee public access to the entire property.

“You would create a park system,” Roberts said of the proposal. “It would be a significant trade-off along that 1,000 feet of waterfront. I would basically lose control of that waterfront … and that seems reasonable to me.”

After viewing Roberts’ presentation, city Councilor Phil Crosby described it as “overwhelming.” Councilor Cathy Heberer was equally stunned.

“It’s big, a little scary for me,” she told Roberts.

Crosby added, however, that the city needed to consider its long-term economic development needs and urged the council not to dismiss the proposal out of hand.

Crosby said many young people are forced to move elsewhere because of the lack of economic opportunity in the city. The 72-year-old councilor said there should be more to Belfast than retirement opportunities.

“Are we going to build this community for people like myself to just fade away or are we going to build something for people to come and stay?” asked Crosby.

Roberts told the council he had a purchase and sale agreement with Stinson owner Richard Klingaman that provided him with a one-year window of opportunity to complete the project.

He said he understood that the city needed to weigh its benefits and pledged to work with city hall to put the pieces in place.

He said he understood the city’s feelings about the harbor and assured the council and those attending the meeting that he would do nothing to damage the character of Belfast or the harbor.

“I’ve spent a year and a half trying to figure out how to make it economically feasible,” Roberts said of the proposal. “The harbor is an economic zone and to have an economic zone you have to have critical mass … This has to be of long-term benefit to the town or I should just go home.”

Roberts said the project would create a vibrant combination of marine businesses, retail shops, restaurants and time-share condominiums. He said the project would “create an economic mass in a truly great place for the people of Belfast.”

Before any steps are taken along the development path, the council will have to agree to changing the zoning along the Stinson parcel. The property is zoned now for fish processing.

Councilor Walter Ash suggested that the days of sardine packing along the waterfront were gone and asked the council to consider opening the property up for development.

“I think we ought to set the wheels moving on changing the zoning in that area,” said Ash. “If you want nothing but a fish plant to be down there, that’s not going to be the way it is.”

The council instructed City Manager Terry St. Peter to continue discussions with Roberts and agreed to bring up the matter when it meets again on Nov. 18.

Mayor Michael Hurley reminded Roberts that the city has invested heavily in the recreational aspects of the harbor since the demise of its industrial base along the waterfront. He said any major development would need the support of the entire community.

“This city has looked to the harbor, the waterfront as the foundation,” said Hurley. “We poured money into it. We’ve done that up and down the harbor, because it’s really an important part of our future.”