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Plum Creek Hearing Draws Crowd, Both Pro and Con

December 04, 2007 - AUGUSTA -- Opponents on Sunday called Plum Creek's plans to rezone more than 400,000 acres around Moosehead Lake a potential catastrophe for Maine and the region. Supporters said the chance to ensure predictable growth and conserve hundreds of thousands of acres in the North Woods was the chance of a lifetime at the second day of public hearings on the real estate investment trust's proposed concept plan.

Testimony was civil but sometimes emotional, with opponents invoking the purity of the night sky over the North Woods while proponents spoke of a region where schools and the hospital were close to shutting down after years of losing jobs and population.

On either side, however, there was broad agreement that the decision of the Land Use Regulation Commission, which serves as the planning board for the unorganized territories, is critical.The land around Moosehead has been a magnet for sportsmen and tourists for centuries and the decision could set a precedent for the development of other large tracts in the unorganized territories, which makes up about half of Maine.

The largest land use proposal ever submitted in Maine, the plan has been revised three times and will go before the public at two more public hearings: Dec. 15 in Portland and Dec. 16 in Greenville. A decision is expected sometime next year.

About 300 people attended Sunday with roughly half indicating they would speak. Of that number, a little more than one third said they were in favor of the proposal while fewer than two thirds were against it.

That plan calls for the creation of about 1,000 house lots and two resorts with a total of 1,050 accommodation units, one at Lily Bay and the other at Moose Mountain. A total of about 20,000 acres would be developed. Land conserved through easements or sale as part of the project amounts to 431,000 acres, according to Plum Creek. Some of that land is outside the plan area.

Bob Burr, former president of Pride Manufacturing Co. who is now retired and living in Mercer, called the Plum Creek proposal a "watershed issue," and urged the commission to approve it.

"This plan will allow for planned, staged development in or near areas that already have residential and commercial activity," Burr said.

Growth and development is natural and inevitable, said Burr. The question, he said, is not development or no development, but of whether development will be planned. He pointed out the plan also calls for the conservation of an area roughly twice the size of Baxter State Park.

William Dowling, a resident and former mayor of Augusta, said the plan would provide a much-needed economic boost for Greenville and the state. It also balances development with conservation, he said.

"Not many companies can afford to develop a project of this size and also convert 400,000 acres into conservation and public access," said Dowling.

If Plum Creek Timber Co. were instead to divide its land into hundreds of parcels, the result could be unplanned and uncontrolled development and the loss of access, Dowling said.

"This is a onetime opportunity while this land is still intact. Don't let it go by the wayside for something better to come along. It won't," he said.

Those opposing the plan, said Maine people would lose an invaluable part of their heritage if it goes through.

Lisa DeHart, a registered Maine Guide from West Gardiner, said that in return for the right to develop land, Plum Creek is offering access and jobs -- a bad bargain, she said.

"In my opinion we have both already," said DeHart. "I'm a river guide; there is access to the entire state of Maine; you just can't drive there. As soon as you can, we might as well be .... New Jersey."

People hire a river guide because the guide offers them the chance to take a trip in which they don't see a road, dock, a golf course, a jet ski or a trophy home. If the Plum Creek plan is not seriously revised, she said her own future as a guide would be devastated.

Bill Townsend, a resident of Canaan and former member of the commission, said the board has a huge job cut out for it.

"We have known for 50 years that this day was going to come ... and that is why, more than 40 years ago, the effort started to create the Land Use Regulation Commission," he said.

Townsend said one of his big concerns was the tax implications. New development does not pay enough taxes to build the infrastructure it requires, he said. Ecotourism also requires a high value experience, he said, something that would be lost if the area is commercialized.

"You are only going to have one chance," Townsend told the commission. "Don't drop the ball. Please, don't drop the ball."

SOURCE: Kennebec Journal

DATE: 12-03-2007


Lakes: Moosehead Lake
Regions: Moosehead


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