BELFAST – The City Council has taken the first step toward rezoning the downtown waterfront to allow mixed-use development.

The council on Tuesday approved first reading of a so-called “contract” rezoning amendment that attempts to deal with development issues on the strip of waterfront along Front Street from Steamboat Landing to the Veterans Memorial Bridge.

City Planner Wayne Marshall said “contract” rezoning is designed to provide both the city and a prospective developer with a way to establish specific conditions dealing with a specific piece of property.

Contract rezoning is viewed as a method to add flexibility within the city’s overall zoning ordinance.

Marshall presented the council with a thick booklet describing the zone and highlighting the numerous rules and standards that need to be considered when dealing with waterfront development.

“A lot of this is just how to pull together a series of ordinance amendments,” Marshall told the council when he distributed the booklet.

The rezoning document focuses on a swath of the city’s working waterfront and its connection to the downtown business district. Because of the issue’s sweeping nature, the council decided to address the contract zoning proposal at two public hearings next month, on July 6 and July 20. The revised zoning for the waterfront could be approved by the council in early August.

While the rezoning proposal covers the entire downtown waterfront, the only property under consideration for development is the shuttered Stinson sardine plant at Front and Peirce streets.

New Jersey developer Tom Roberts holds an option on the Stinson property. He has sketched a preliminary outline of a mixed-use project that would attempt to blend residential and retail developments with a marina and boat repair business.

Although Roberts has had numerous discussions with the council and various city boards and committees about his plans, he has been blocked from moving forward because of the overlapping nature of the city’s zoning regulations. The contract rezoning would enable the city to sidestep some of those hurdles.

“He will have to come forward with a proposal that conforms to the new zoning,” Marshall said of Roberts.

Under the proposal, the harbor would be divided into five districts: the coastal harbor, outer harbor, inner harbor, bridge harbor and river harbor. Each section would have its own specific regulations dealing with wharf lines and other development matters.

Marshall said that once contract rezoning is on the books, any development proposal would have to pass muster with a number of city departments and committees before it could come before the council for a vote.

The first hurdle will be the planning office, followed by the comprehensive planning committee, the in-town design review committee, harbor committee and planning board. The council then will have the final say as to whether to enter the city into a contract with the developer.

“Each contract stands alone and is an amendment to the zoning codes,” Marshall said.

The city has three other areas on its books that permit contract zoning.

One is the former Bradbury Manor nursing home on Northport Avenue where the contract is restricted to housing for the elderly or congregate-care projects. The other two are commercial districts on Searsport and Lincolnville avenues that require contracts on any retail development greater than 40,000 square feet but less than 75,000 square feet.

The two public hearings on zoning and the waterfront will be 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 6, and 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 20, both at City Hall.