To the Editor:
The Newcastle Planning Board will hold a public hearing on changes to the Land Use Ordinance that could protect land in several areas of town. The changes to the Shoreland Zone map, mandated by the Dept. of Environmental Protection must be updated to comply with state regulations.
Part of the changes mandated by the state is the inclusion of land within 250 feet of “moderate and high value wetlands” into resource protection.
In addition, the Land Use Ordinance Revision Committee has voted to include some lands surrounding other wetlands in Newcastle to be more consistent in the treatment of wetlands in Town.
Also, to comply with provisions of the Comprehensive Plan voted by the Town in 2006, the land surrounding Deer Meadow Brook has been proposed to be included in Resource Protection. Development could only occur under limited conditions within 250 feet of the Brook. Currently Stream Protection of only 75 feet is required,
This was voted in the Comprehensive Plan (CP). People at the visioning sessions then were consistently in favor of protecting the Deer Meadow Brook area from excessive development: The CP says: “…Create incentives in the Land Use Ordinance that will protect the environmentally sensitive Deer Meadow Brook corridor.” And also “…Extend the shore land zone protections around Deer Meadow Brook to protect the significant wildlife corridor that now exists in this un-fragmented area. ” and further “…The Plan proposes to increase the Shoreland Zone to 250 feet for the entire length of Deer Meadow Brook to provide consistency of protection to that wildlife corridor.”
Resource Protection (RP) is not absolute. Un-subdivided land can be built on, even in the protected portion, if no other area exists to build in. Forestry, including tree harvesting can occur, but requires more supervision to protect the land from damage during harvesting.
I believe that RP will also have a dramatic effect on future land values. At the present time there is still plenty of wild land but it is disappearing rapidly. Land that has significant protection will become much more valuable. As nearby unprotected land is converted to residential uses, the protected land will gain favor with people who wish to live in more natural surroundings. High prices can be anticipated for such land.
This opportunity will not occur again. Our grandchildren may look back on this vote as significant for saving the qualities of Newcastle that we most value.
Why is this a unique chance? Development pressure is so strong that what we don’t protect today will be gone tomorrow. As development moves up the coast, as the bottlenecks that have protected us are removed at places like Wiscasset, as surging numbers of residents and the businesses that will inevitably follow them will use up all the remaining land. Once gone, it will never be recovered.
New Jersey was once the Garden State and before that was forest and pasture; now it is continuous suburbia. The chance that New Jersey had is largely gone, never to return. Do we have to do that in Maine? We have a chance but it requires action to happen. Come to the public hearing, learn the issues, prepare to vote for the best interests of the Town at the March Town Meeting.
Alan Pooley, Newcastle, Currently in Florida
(Alan Pooley is a member of the Newcastle Land Use Ordinance Review Committee. His views do not necessarily represent those of the committee.)
