By SYDNEY SCHWARTZ
The Patriot Ledger

MARSHFIELD - For more than 20 years, Marshfield residents Ronald and Gloria Erikson have dreamed of opening a summer day camp for children.

After an extensive search, the couple finally found an ideal spot: a 6-acre farm at 1067 Union St.

But dozens of residents of the North Marshfield neighborhood say they don’t want a summer camp in their backyards.

The neighbors, who have organized as the North Marshfield Advocacy Group, have been crowding town hearings on the proposal.

Last night, more than 60 people were at town hall for a zoning board of appeals hearing to decide whether to approve a special permit for the plan.

‘‘We’re actually getting a lot of positive feedback from the town officials,’’ said the couple’s lawyer, Robert W. Galvin of Galvin & Galvin in Duxbury.

‘‘We’re getting a lot of negative feedback from the neighbors, who I guess would prefer to see it somewhere else.’’

The Eriksons, who live on Pinehurst Road, say they have wanted to open a camp since 1986, when they co-directed Camp Daniel Webster, a former summer day camp on the Daniel Webster Estate.

Ronald Erikson, a former North Quincy High School math teacher who is now head of computer science at Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, runs a hockey camp in Hingham and a soccer camp in town called Soccer Plus.

He and his wife, who works at South Shore Mental Health in Quincy, plan to run the Union Street camp weekdays for eight weeks in the summer.

If approved by town boards, the camp would cater to about 125 children, most of whom will be bused to the property. There would be 25 staff members, they say.

The campers would play soccer, swim and do arts and crafts. There would also be a nature program that would study the native Eastern box turtle.

The Vercollone family, who are selling the property, keep more than a dozen horses and llamas, Galvin said.

The Eriksons would transform the horse pasture into a soccer field and move the pool. They would live in the house and use the barn and garage for the camp. No buildings would be added.

Galvin said there are two other camps in town, one run by the YWCA and another by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Both have caretakers living on the premises.

Galvin said camp itself will be up a hill and will not be visible from the street. It will be busy when most people in the neighborhood are at work.

He said a traffic plan has been approved by the town safety officer and the water, fire and drainage systems would not harm the neighborhood. Almost 90 percent of the property would be left as open space.

Galvin said the property is appropriate for a camp. In deciding whether to issue a special permit for the plan, the zoning board can consider whether a camp would affect the character of the neighborhood.

Opponents say it will.

‘‘My bay window overlooks where he’s going to put his monstrosity,’’ said Mary Judkins of Union Street, referring to the soccer field. ‘‘This must not be allowed to happen.’’

‘‘Why is this being proposed here? It doesn’t make any sense,’’ added Joseph Ingoldsby of Union Street, who presented a petition signed by 90 residents.

The neighbors’ attorney, former zoning board Chairman Warren F. Baker of Baker, Braverman & Barbadoro in Braintree, said the board needs to better define a day camp.

He argued last night that the Eriksons want to have two primary uses for the property: residential and day camp, and only one is allowed with a special permit.

The Eriksons say the camp would be their main use of the property, but they would like to live there and become part of the community as well.

They are only interested in the property if they can run a camp there.

They said they hope that in time their neighbors would send their children and grandchildren to the camp.

‘‘We want to be good neighbors,’’ Ronald Erikson said. ‘‘We just hope to run an excellent program where we can kind of pick up the torch (from Camp Daniel Webster’s) program and make it better.’’

The hearing will be continued March 6.

Sydney Schwartz may be reached at sschwartz@ledger.com .