The possibility of the Damariscotta River Association (DRA) taking ownership of a 40-acre parcel has South Bristol officials rankled and one selectman threatening legislation to impede land acquisition by the DRA and similar organizations.
DRA Executive Director Steven Hufnagel met with the selectmen June 30 to discuss a proposal by a group of property owners to gift a 40-acre parcel in Walpole to the DRA. Two of the landowners, Sarah Peskin and Bernie Vanderhoeven, also attended the meeting.
The parcel is “at the base of Fitch Cove, right above Glidden Ledge,” Hufnagel said, a location in northwest South Bristol with frontage on the Damariscotta River and Rt. 129.
A group of neighbors collectively bought the property with the intent of transferring it to the DRA, Hufnagel said.
The selectmen objected to the transfer. DRA ownership would remove the property – assessed at slightly over $1 million – from the tax rolls while providing limited benefit to South Bristol taxpayers, who would pick up the tab for the lost revenue, they said.
“I see it as a way for some property owners to use the property the way they want to use it without paying taxes on it,” Chairman Ken Lincoln said.
“I think there has to be a bigger benefit than just to be able to walk on it,” Selectman Chester Rice said.
The public would be able to hike, hunt, fish, swim and picnic on the property, Hufnagel said. The conservation of the property would also provide habitat for horseshoe crabs, blue heron and other wildlife.
The presence of public preserves increases property values throughout the town, offsetting, at least in part, the loss of tax revenue, Hufnagel said.
The selectmen argued that most residents, including the town’s large population of elderly residents, wouldn’t hike the parcel. “I am concerned about horseshoe crabs, but I’m more concerned about the constituents of this town,” Lincoln said.
Lincoln pointed out that some of the organization’s other properties in South Bristol, including a preserve at Seal Cove, lack parking, signage or trail systems to encourage public use.
“I think the River Association has more land than it can maintain already,” Lincoln said. “You’ve got to let the public know that the properties are there.”
“I’ll recommit that we’re going to get the signs up to start and work on expanding our trail system so it’s first class,” Hufnagel said.
Rice asked Hufnagel to consider allowing the town to build a public boat launch on the Fitch Cove property.
A boat landing “is not an option for us,” Hufnagel said, and might violate the organization’s charter if it degrades “fragile shoreline.”
“It would just be a completely inappropriate place to have an active type of use,” Peskin, a co-owner of and neighbor to the parcel, said.
The lack of a public boat landing in South Bristol, which boasts 26 miles of coastline along its long peninsula and multiple islands, is a longstanding frustration for town officials.
The town, in the past, made an offer on a potential landing site adjacent to the Fitch Cove property, but nearby landowners, including some of the co-owners of the Fitch Cove property, “upset” the owner of the parcel “so bad, she stepped away from us,” Lincoln said.
“Every time we go near a piece it gets pulled away from us,” Lincoln said. Of four parcels the town has considered in recent years, three, including Seal Cove, “went into [the DRA’s] hands,” he said.
“You’re getting some of the most prized properties in town,” Rice said. A former state representative, Rice said he’ll work with local legislators to introduce a bill to restrict similar acquisitions.
“We’re going to have to do legislation to stop it,” Rice said. “We can’t afford to have our land drift away.”
Rice didn’t specify how the legislation would address the issue.
According to South Bristol’s 2010 annual report, DRA owns 11 properties in South Bristol assessed at $7.51 million.
Although the DRA Board of Trustees has voted to accept the Fitch Cove property, the organization has yet to close on the deal, Hufnagel said later.
Hufnagel said he sought to address the town’s concerns about the Swanson Preserve and expected “a more positive response” this time around. He said he has, and will continue to, work with the town to locate a potential boat landing and/or a public park, if there’s interest.
As for Fitch Cove, “We’re giving this some serious thought as to how we proceed,” Hufnagel said. “It’s not a closed book.”
It’s not the first difference of opinion between the DRA and the selectmen. Last year, the parties clashed over public access to the former’s Swanson Preserve, a 64-acre tract on a peninsula in the John’s River.
In other town business, the selectmen appointed former alternate Paul Durgin to replace Gordon Humphrey, who recently resigned, on the South Bristol Planning Board.
