Stonington -- The borough Planning and Zoning Commission will now require the Stonington Community Center to appear before it June 13 to obtain a permit for its $300,000 project to replace its four tennis courts along Cutler Street.

The need for a permit could delay the completion of the project, especially if the commission does not rule on the permit that night and postpones a decision until its July meeting. The commission is expected to accept public comment at the meeting. The decision to make the community center seek a permit comes after neighbors complained about the removal of trees for the project and then requested more information about landscaping, buffers and off-street parking.

Center Executive Director Beth Ann Stewart could not be reached for comment about the June 13 meeting.

Earlier this month the borough ordered the community center, better known as the COMO, to stop work on project after borough officials said the work appears to be more extensive than what they originally thought.

Local attorney Mark Kepple, who represents some of the neighbors concerned about the project, said his clients would like a buffer to partially obstruct not only courts but the adjacent railroad tracks. The COMO has removed trees and brush which had partially blocked the view of passing trains.

“The neighbors are not asking for anything unreasonable,” he said.

Kepple said that the COMO has been told by borough ZEO Thomas Zanarini that it could go ahead and pulverize the courts and install the new surface, but would need to present a landscaping and buffering plan for approval.

Private individuals have donated all the money for the courts, which will have the same blue Deco Turf surface as those at the National Tennis Center in New York, site of the U.S. Open. The current courts, which were installed in 1957, are now riddled with cracks and weeds and have depressed areas.

j.wojtas@theday.com