BELFAST – It’s not there yet, but the proposed development of the former Stinson Seafood plant has slowly inched its way toward winning the approval of the harbor advisory committee.

Developer Tom Roberts has been grappling with the committee for more than a year over his plan to place floats and slips along the 1,000 feet of shore frontage the Stinson property has on Belfast Harbor. The meetings have been acrimonious and confrontational at times, but incremental progress was made as the months passed.

A major stumbling block from the beginning was Roberts’ plan to locate slips or floats for 400 vessels in the inner harbor. Over time, the committee managed to whittle that figure down to about 60 slips.

Committee members informed Roberts last week that he had met the requirements of the 13-step checklist established under the city’s harbor ordinance. But committee chairman David Cassida said Roberts still needs to obtain the necessary federal and state permits before his group would be comfortable signing off on the proposal.

“I’m not going to say I’m confident, but I would say it’s moving forward and hasn’t taken a step backward,” Cassida said Saturday. “There’s still a lot of work to be done. It’s not dead in the water, let’s put it that way.”

Cassida said Roberts needed permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Environmental Protection. The Army Corps permit would ensure that the project’s floats and marina would not hamper navigation in the harbor. The DEP permit would deal with state shoreland zoning issues. Cassida said Roberts must provide the city with detailed engineering plans of the project. Issues with lighting also remain unresolved.

“We’re not going to stick our neck out and say we’re satisfied until he has the engineering and the permits,” Cassida said of the committee. “There’s quite a lot of work to be done yet.”

The city is reviewing the proposal under its contract rezoning ordinance. Under that process, receiving harbor committee approval is critical to any development along the water. Once the hurdle of the harbor committee is overcome, the Roberts plan must pass muster with the planning board and the City Council. Council approval of the contract rezoning will be predicated by favorable reviews from the other city committees.

Under a revised schedule established by City Planner Wayne Marshall, Roberts’ “Old Belfast Bridge Development Project” is expected to come before the planning board in March and then to the City Council by late spring.

Water-based activities are a key component of Roberts’ proposed mixed-use development of the 5-acre Stinson site. Besides a marina and boat repair facility, Roberts’ plan also calls for converting the property’s buildings into residences and retail stores. The estimated cost of the project is $8 million.

From the moment he announced his plans in November 2003, Roberts ran afoul of the harbor ordinance that restricted the inner harbor wharf line to 100 feet. He also initially wanted to secure floats and ramps to the footbridge spanning the harbor. The footbridge is scheduled to undergo a $3.5 million face-lift. Roberts wanted to tie his project to the renovated bridge. When that aspect of the proposal received a lukewarm reception from the city’s bridge committee, Roberts removed it from his plan.

As part of the plan, Roberts offered the city public access to a pedestrian walkway through his development that would connect the waterfront to the new bridge. He also offered to provide the city’s commercial fishermen access to a staging area and pier adjacent to his vessel haul-out ramp. In return, the harbor committee agreed to remove a half-dozen moorings from the area of Roberts’ proposed yacht basin to accommodate his floats and allow floats within 25 feet of the navigational channel.

“We are the ones who have to look at what happens on the water,” said Cassida. “We felt what he offered the fishermen might be acceptable. And something will be done for those who have to give up their moorings.”

The harbor committee is scheduled to resume its review of the project at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 19.