ORONO – The planning board gave preliminary approval to a 153-unit residential complex for student housing at the end of Colburn Drive by a vote of 6-1 Wednesday night.

Proposed by Peregrine Developers of Rhode Island, the 20.6-acre University Courtyard at Penobscot Commons is expected to have 494 beds spread among one-, two- and four-bedroom apartments to be rented by undergraduate and graduate students as well as junior faculty.

The project will go before the planning board for final approval at a later meeting and will also need to go before the Town Council for review.

Due to the heavy concern of traffic generated by the project, the applicants were required to add plans to construct a separate right turn lane on U.S. Route 2 leading onto Colburn Drive as conditions of the preliminary approval.

However, traffic engineer Michael Waugh of Surry Engineering Associates said the project wasn’t expected to significantly affect the current traffic at the intersection of Route 2 and Colburn Drive.

“My professional opinion is that we will have an increase in traffic on Colburn Drive,” Waugh said. “The increase is not to the extent that will cause a safety problem at the intersection with Route 2.”

Waugh was hired by the town to review traffic studies conducted by the applicant’s traffic engineers.

Additionally, board members made the condition that the Department of Environmental Protection must approve the project’s wastewater management plan before final approval would be granted.

Board member August Desiervo was the only dissenting vote, as he felt the applicants hadn’t addressed many of the concerns voiced by residents.

Desiervo had made a previous motion to deny the application, but the motion was defeated 6-1.

Jordan Stone of Peregrine Developers said after the meeting that the development should help to offset housing problems like those currently being experienced at the University of Maine.

“This is desperately needed as far as housing for students,” Stone said, referring to the students who are temporarily being housed in local hotels and in rooms with resident assistants who typically live alone.

Final approval of the project could come as early as next month’s planning board meeting.