Neighbors of the Stepping Stones low-income housing development on Hodgdon Street in Damariscotta turned out in force on July 11 to voice their opposition to the site plan review under consideration by the Planning Board.

Stepping Stones is a nonprofit, providing housing for those who could not afford to live in conventional rental units. It charges no more than 30 percent of a family’s income. The goal is to transition people from Stepping Stones to permanent housing as soon as they have an income that would support rent or a mortgage. Two-bedroom rental units in Lincoln County average $820 per month; the average Stepping Stones resident pays about $400, the agency said.

There were seven housing units on the property, known locally as Blue Haven, including the original home of John Andrews, who built many of the cottages. For more than 40 years, he made it his life’s work to provide housing to people in need. When he died, the property was donated to the organization.

The main house and attached apartment building were torn down, and in 2014, Stepping Stones filed a building permit to replace the two units with a duplex. It then decided to replace all the buildings with a series of duplexes, eliminating a “tiny house” built by students in Bowdoinham, two trailers, and an aging cottage, and bring them up to modern fire codes, and to alter the driveway to make it easier for fire trucks to get in and out. When the agency began talking about replacing more than the two units that had been torn down, it was told that would take Planning Board approval.

At the July 11 meeting, abutters raised many issues. Some questioned the grandfathered clause that would allow the agency to replace the original seven units with seven new units. Others had questions about traffic, noise, the presence of children on the site, and what one woman characterized as “heavy baggage” — the propensity for the tenants to be involved with crime, be victims or perpetrators of domestic violence, or to be drug abusers.

A member of the Stepping Stones board, Mark Hamilton, spoke out at that. “We all have baggage,” he said. “The people you are worried about have been gone for over a year.”

Others were more concerned that town services, such as police, fire, and schools, would not be recouped in taxes, since Stepping Stones pays no property tax to Damariscotta.

Others worried about parking and the effect of the property on their neighboring businesses.

The biggest concern was a series of criminal activities involving residents more than a year ago. Those residents had been evicted, and in one case, the children of the resident were taken into state custody. Bill Howlett, speaking for the organization, said the agency had spoken to the Department of Health and Human Services and the governor’s office numerous times to try to get DHHS to take action, but that the efforts met with silence. The organization acknowledged that mistakes had been made in screening, and in the meantime, Stepping Stones developed a new screening process, according to the new executive director, Marilee A. Harris, who is also pastor of the Damariscotta Baptist Church.

Harris said she will have an office on Main Street. Some abutters said they would prefer that the residents have a “supervisor” on site 24 hours a day and would prefer to see fewer units. The maximum number of people who could live on the site would be 28, but the average number ranges from 10-16.

The Planning Board reviewed the application to see if it was complete. The application still requires letters from the fire chief and Great Salt Bay Sanitary District, a letter from the Road Commissioner regarding the driveway, and a corrected sketch showing open space, and possible screening. The Board also asked for the Andrews’ site survey, and may possibly ask for a new site survey to include the architectural sketches, although Stepping Stones asked for a waiver, which Town Planner Tony Dater said is often granted.

Two other projects, the Inn Along The Way, a retiree housing campus in the commercial district, and a development by Vine Street Inc., were tabled for the meeting. The board agreed to meet again on Aug. 8, owing to Dater’s vacation schedule. Members also agreed to leave the officers of the board unchanged.