BELFAST, Maine — The City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a contract rezoning amendment that clears the final municipal hurdle for the sale of Front Street Shipyard to Safe Harbor Marinas, formally updating the city’s longstanding development agreement to reflect the shipyard’s new ownership while leaving its underlying obligations intact.
The action came after a public hearing and second reading of Contract Rezoning Agreement Amendment No. 9, which applies to the shipyard properties at 101, 65 and 45 Front St. City officials emphasized throughout the process that the amendment does not expand or alter what is permitted on the site, but instead ensures continuity by transferring all existing contractual responsibilities to the new owner.
Belfast Planning and Codes Director Bub Fournier told councilors that the amendment was “simply an ownership change,” noting that the contract rezoning framework governing the shipyard remains otherwise unchanged. That framework has been central to the city’s oversight of one of the most prominent industrial-maritime developments on Belfast Harbor, balancing economic activity with public access, neighborhood impacts and long-term planning goals.
Contract rezoning allows municipalities to impose site-specific conditions that go beyond standard zoning regulations, creating a legally binding agreement between the city and a property owner. In Belfast, the tool has been used to manage complex waterfront projects where development pressures intersect with public interests. The Front Street Shipyard agreement governs a roughly 6-acre campus totaling more than 500,000 square feet of development within the Waterfront Mixed Use zoning district, and its conditions remain enforceable regardless of ownership changes.
The need for the amendment arose following the announcement that Safe Harbor Marinas, a national marina operator, would acquire the shipyard. While the city’s approvals for the project did not lapse with the sale, the legal documents tied to the contract rezoning required updating so that the city could clearly identify the entity responsible for complying with the agreement’s terms.
The amendment followed a multi-step review process. The Planning Board considered the proposal on Nov. 19 and recommended adoption. The City Council approved the first reading at its Dec. 4 meeting, triggering the statutory requirement for a public hearing and second reading before final action could be taken.
At the Tuesday meeting, Fournier described the relationship between the city of Belfast and Front Street Shipyard as a “great symbiosis,” while acknowledging that it is also “complicated.” The city, he said, has relied on the contract rezoning agreement to ensure that the shipyard’s scale and operations remain consistent with the public commitments made when the project was originally approved.
The public hearing portion of the meeting drew at least one critical comment. Belfast resident Zopher Whitcomb raised concerns about Safe Harbor Marinas’ business practices, citing a class action lawsuit involving the company. “I do not think this is a business we want in Belfast,” Whitcomb told the council during the hearing, urging officials to take a broader view of the buyer’s track record before approving the amendment.
City officials responded by reiterating that the council’s role in the process was limited to land-use regulation and contractual continuity. The amendment, they said, does not constitute an endorsement of Safe Harbor Marinas’ business model, nor does it loosen any of the safeguards embedded in the existing rezoning agreement.
Councilor Mary Mortier addressed those concerns directly before the vote, saying she believed the amendment preserved the city’s protections. “I believe there are enough safeguards in the proposed contract rezoning amendment that protect the taxpayers,” Mortier said. The council then voted unanimously to approve the amendment, finalizing the city’s governmental action on the matter.
The approval ensures that Safe Harbor Marinas steps into the same obligations previously held by Front Street Shipyard’s former owners, including compliance with development conditions, operational limits, and any future city oversight tied to the agreement. From the city’s perspective, the action reduces ambiguity and strengthens enforceability by clearly assigning responsibility under the contract rezoning to the current owner.
For Belfast residents, the vote represents continuity rather than a shift in waterfront policy. The shipyard’s scale, footprint and permitted uses remain governed by the same binding agreement that has shaped its presence on the harbor for years. While ownership has changed, the city’s expectations for the site have not.
Front Street Shipyard has long been both a symbol of Belfast’s economic ambitions and a flashpoint in conversations about waterfront access and industrial development in a downtown setting. Its growth has been carefully managed through a combination of zoning, contractual controls and public process, reflecting the city’s attempt to balance maritime industry with community character.
In that broader context, the council’s approval of Amendment No. 9 closes a procedural chapter while opening a new era of ownership under a familiar regulatory framework. The decision affirms the city’s reliance on contract rezoning as a tool to manage long-term development and signals that, even as ownership changes hands, Belfast intends to hold fast to the conditions it has negotiated to protect the public interest along its working waterfront.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.
