Tremont residents to campground owners: 'You're anything but light commercial'
FARMHOUSE ON TREMONT ROAD IS SITE OF PROPOSED CAMPGROUND
TREMONT, May 29, 2021 - If owners of Acadia Wilderness Lodge were hoping for a Kumbaya moment Thursday night at their “neighborhood” zoom meeting, they were disabused of that fanciful notion by speaker after speaker.
The cold shower began when Gabrielle Graham of Seal Cove leaned into her mic and said as an RV owner she worries that many of the RVs will be first-time rentals driven by campers who have never driven one before, that they will dispose waste water into the ground and that the campground noise will continue well into the night.
The owners, Kenya and James Hopkins, have applied for planning board approval to operate a 154-site campground in West Tremont to include 72 RVs. The application has drawn the largest opposition to a commercial business in town history. The first public hearing on April 27 lasted two hours and was continued to a second hearing scheduled for June 22. But a representative of the company said it will seek to postpone the matter to the July planning board meeting to allow for another neighborhood meeting before then.
The meeting was moderated by Cindy Orcutt, a landscape architect hired by the Hopkins, who said the couple have a right to develop the campground on land zoned for light commercial use.
“This is not it (light commercial),” said resident Ann Caswell. “It’s not going to be light when construction is going on. Traffic is not going to be light. Water use is not going to be light. The impact on the resources on this community is not going to be light. And if this project doesn’t go, if it fails economically, the mitigation of it is not going to be light.”
The private meeting called by the Hopkinses was an attempt to air out the residents’ objections and to inform potential ways to modify the application, said Orcutt. It was attended by almost 50 participants, although some had trouble accessing the zoom room.
Kenya Hopkins, who has a mechanical engineering degree and an MBA from Michigan State University, followed her husband’s introduction with a multi-slide presentation which was not well received and greeted with cynicism.
“I spent a lot of my professional life dealing with municipal law problems and administrative problems in a different state,” said Cape Road resident Richard Cohen. “And over the years, meetings of this kind become familiar, a developer who meets opposition seeks the psychological advantage of asking people to come onboard and help you with the problems. You're not the first people who've done that. You're not the last.
“I think you've got to understand that you've met a community that is united in its conclusion that this development scheme is totally out of scale with the community and totally out of scale with the community's vision of itself and its future. And you can't nibble around the edges and resolve that.”
Others found the presentation condescending, disingenuous and shockingly ignorant about Tremont, such as Kenya Hopkins’s proposals for children programming, gardening services and bike paths. Her husband James grew up in Tremont but moved away years ago.
“I take tremendous offense at the concept that there is nothing for children to do here,” said Rachel Kohrman-Ramos who lives in an abutting property. “I am an educator. I brought Leading for Literacy here. I brought children's programming here. I have a doctorate in children's programming and there is a tremendous amount of children's programming on the backside, so the fact that that was said is very frustrating to me. I would be more than happy if Kenya’s children come here to discuss with her all the wonderful things that happen here. Kathy Pratt has an art program. I am the vice chair of the Bass Harbor Memorial Library and we provide amazing programming there. If there is a dearth of programming in her mind I would love to have that discussion. I think that was a low blow and that was the wrong way to go with that presentation.”
Every response to an objection seemed to spawn another objection. To address a concern about traffic congestion on Rt. 102, a major artery through MDI, the solution was to direct the campers away from Somesville through Indian Point Road, a lightly traveled country lane which serves the least dense section of the island.
That did not sit well with Laura Grier, who lives on Indian Point Road.
Residents chastised the Hopkins for not reaching out to the neighbors first before filing its application in March to build a massive campground.
“It's just too much,” said Richard Cohen. “It’s the same thing as if you want to build a 150-unit hotel. In some ways worse.”
Kenya Hopkins is a former beauty queen who is poised and knows her way around a Powerpoint presentation.
When she got to the slide on traffic, she said, “Let me tell you how state roads work.”
“I’ve heard so many complaints about that road being terrible.”
“You’re walking on that edge, you’re scared. Cars are zooming by. There are potholes. it’s not a road that’s well kept up … well, the way it works is that you can get the state to come in and count the number of cars that go that that road and the more cars that go down that road the more money you get for that road the more tax dollars you get for that road, you’re better able to get the state to fix that road.
“So we will be an advocate for that.”
“We will go in and say to the state, ‘Hey we need you to fix Rt. 102.’ ”
“It’s dangerous, we can put in walking and bike paths.”
QSJ did not understand her circular logic. She seemed to have said something like “if you let us build this project which will make conditions worse, then we will have leverage with the state to repair the damage?” The Hopkinses did not return QSJ’s call for an explanation.
QSJ asked Town Manager Chris Saunders how rural roads are funded. He said:
“I attended a conference where the commissioner of DOT said very clearly that for roads like ours they will not rebuild the roads themselves without local funding. The only way to rebuild a road is through a municipal partnership initiative which is a grant program where the state will match one-to-one all of the town’s resources with a cap of $500,000.
“So the town will put in $500,000 and the state will put in $500,000 and the state will rebuild a section of the road.
“That’s how essentially Tremont rebuilt the road from the school to Bernard Corner in 2015.”
That project was for about half a mile, half of it paid for by Tremont residents.
The stretch from Acadia Lodge in West Tremont to the Pretty Marsh border is about eight miles. That road is deteriorating with no plans to rebuild it. QSJ is waiting for Kenya Hopkins to show us how.
On the matter of bike and walking paths, it would be lovely to have those on RT. 102. Was Kenya Hopkins unaware that many residents have tackled that challenge to no avail for years?
First, a survey must be conducted to determine the right-of-way for Rt. 102 which can vary from property to property. Any need to acquire land on either side of Rt. 102 would be prohibitively expensive.
Then the price of actual construction would be astronomical. Who will pay for that?
“They act like this is all new. It is not,” said one resident.
It was clear from the conversation that the applicants had only rudimentary knowledge on how to operate an RV park. They got a teach-in from Gabrielle Graham on matters such as “dry camping, gray water disposal, and classes of motor homes.”
The meeting had its share of personal stories, from those with heart-felt and emotional tales of how they found a reasonably quiet life in Tremont.
“I am the house on 18 Kelleytown Road. My porch looks right out onto the farmhouse which is beautiful and I'm so grateful for the view,” said Kohrman-Ramos. “I was only able to afford this house with the people who owned it before. It turned out I knew them by accident from walking my dog and she was kind enough to sell it at cost. This is not how I ever wanted to live the rest of my life with this campground behind me,” she said choking up. “I'm very worried and I'm not trying to be dramatic but the concept of RVs, the sound and everything that we've already discussed. You say you want to talk about solutions, honestly the solution is that it wouldn't be happening for me. “
Richard Cohen:
“I live on Cape Road. Cape Road is a road that goes around Seal Cove, very lightly populated, but it does have a public landing for boats. It does have a small lobster boat fleet there. It has a picnic area and a small parking area. It is insufficient for the population we have now. It is overused. Now, if out of 150 some families, which could be as many as five or six hundred people, ten percent of them decide that it would be great to go down to the landing and the picnic area and wander around Cape Road. It would destroy the use of that facility for the people who live in this town. I'm afraid of that.
“Cape Road is a narrow road. It's a road in bad repair. Much of it is dirt. If they show up in trucks and RVs on that road, it's going to be devastating. You just have too loud a trumpet to be in this quietside. And I think you've got to understand that you may be able to force yourself upon us by legal means, but you will be constantly aware that this is a development that Tremont doesn't want and for damned good reason. And if anybody else feels the same way on this call, maybe it's time to speak up. Thank you.”
Here is the audio of the entire meeting: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1liqYdjRLnH6EP778_RFvU3h2iTU-_sEO/view?usp=sharing
Skating pond project still faces hurdles
SOUTHWEST HARBOR - Kristin Hutchins is pleased that voters will have a chance to decide whether the proposed parking lot for Chris’s Pond will move forward.
But the road to that eventuality which includes affordable housing on the property is still long and fraught with potential show stoppers at various points.
Hutchins is the former chair of the select board who resigned two weeks ago after three fellow members pulled the rug from under her and others working to improve access to Chris’s Pond, where generations of children learned to ice skate on the Quietside.
Since March 23 the whims of one man have turned town government into a parliamentary jungle gym. That was when the select board first approved a question on the ballot for voters to say whether they wanted to apply for grants from the Land Water and Conservation Fund to enable better access and parking to Chris’s Pond and to upgrade the town dock in Manset.
That federal program previously helped build a ball field at Pemetic School and the veterans park in the center of the village, said Misha Mytar of the Main Coast Heritage Trust who is the driving force behind the pond project. The program requires that the grant be matched by local funding. Mytar came up with the idea of using the equity as the match. If an appraisal put the equity at $160,000, the matching grant would enable the demolition of the house and construction of a parking lot with 10 spaces. The extra space would be donated to the Island Housing Trust to build a one-family home for a qualifying year-round applicant seeking below market housing.
All was well until Black Tuesday March 11, when select member George Jellison tried to jettison that effort by leading the board to reject by a 3-2 vote the pond project despite previous board votes in support. (The night before the harbor committee had voted 5-3 against proceeding with the dock project.)
Jellison is bringing a national political sensibility to local government where previous decisions have no precedence. It is perilous because vendors, suppliers, partners and non-profit agencies can no longer trust their long-term relationship with the town.
Moreover, Jellison, who doesn’t answer calls from QSJ, doesn’t seem to understand nor appreciate market dynamics.
The blowback from voters was swift, enough so that interim select chair Chad Terry changed his mind this week on Chris’s Pond but not on Manset dock. That required the original March 23 question to be amended to just a single project. But the vote to amend failed 2-2 leaving the original March 23 question on the ballot.
The Chris’s Pond project started when the estate of the dilapidated house next to the pond contacted the Maine Coast Heritage Trust to ask whether it would be interested in acquiring the property.
Misha Mytar said two six-month options from August 2020 through August 2021 gave MCHT valuable time to consider the purchase.
It also coincided with one of the biggest real estate booms in history. Simply put, the property is worth more, perhaps a lot more, something which seemed to have escaped George Jellison.
In the meantime, the town will ask voters at its town meeting next Saturday June 5 this question:
“To see if the Town will authorize the Select Board to apply, on behalf of the Town, for federal financing assistance under the provisions of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, Public Law 88-578 for the development of Chris' Pond/Manset recreation improvements; and further authorize the Select Board or its designee to enter into the Land and Water Conservation Fund Project Agreement with the State subsequent to federal approval of the project.”
Former select member Dan Norwood is expected to fill Kristin Hutchins’s seat after the town elections June 8, but it would be difficult for the next board to challenge the sentiment of the voters should they approve the question. But with Jellison on the board, who knows?
That would only start the clock for a year-long process which still faces many obstacles.
First MCHT must complete the $152,000 acquisition.
The good news is that a recent appraisal puts the value higher than that. So when Jellison avers that he is worried about rising cost, the higher appraised value of the property will give MCHT a boost to seek a bigger grant. Jellison also previously said he is concerned about abutters even though not a single abutter has publicly objected to the project.
It won’t be until next year after a new round of applications are considered will we know if the grants are availing.
Here is punch list of important factors:
Voters decide June 5 whether to approve seeking the grants
Will select board vote to proceed if voters favor?
If so, will MCHT exercise its option Aug. 31?
Will Island Housing Trust be able to raise enough money to build a single-famly house on the property next to the pond parking area? If not, will MCHT proceed with just the pond improvements?
And memo to Jellison: This doesn’t require a dime from SWH taxpayers.
1884 Claremont hotel moves up market
SOUTHWEST HARBOR - Claremont Hotel met its deadline to open by Memorial Day Weekend Friday night. New owner Tim Harrington is definitely aiming for an upscale customer base in the Quietside institution as evident by these photos.
Area town managers seek a single animal control officer
SOMESVILLE - Diana de los Santos said she once found 32 cats in an unoccupied house in Bar Harbor. She is the animal control officer for Bar Harbor and Mount Desert. She talked of the persistent feral cat problem on MDI for this article on the increasing difficulty of small towns to staff these jobs.
The clusters of feral cats in Town Hill, Northeast Harbor and Southwest Harbor are the result of seasonal residents abandoning their pets when they leave in the fall, de los Santos said.
The cats must be rounded up and taken to the vet for rabies vaccines and spayed or neutered. Feral cats have been a problem on MDI for decades.
Bar Harbor is training a replacement for de los Santos who is leaving the post this summer. Vacancies are also looming in Trenton and Lamoine, where the town manager is seeking help to replace an animal control officer who is “scared” because pet owners are becoming more belligerent and threatening.
“She was threatened by one dog owner with a gun,” said town manager Stuart Marckoon, who is proposing that neighboring towns share the position of animal control officer.
That idea was well received by the League of Towns consisting of all MDI towns, Swans Island, Cranberry Isles, Acadia National Park, Ellsworth, Lamoine and Trenton. The group voted this week to ask Hancock County whether this can be a service provided by the county.
The footprint is large and the needs are diverse.
“Lamoine and Trenton are like the Wild West,” said de los Santos, who was executive director of the regional SPCA before her current position. She said MDI towns have not had incidents like that reported in Lamoine.
The ugly truth below the surface of Frenchman Bay
SOMESVILLE - They have no natural predators, so their increasing presence in Frenchman Bay is alarming and threatening to those who make a living off of the incumbent species, such as soft shell crabs and star fish.
One is tunicate, a gelatinous, pancake-like creature which “filter feeds” off the bottom, said Chris Petersen, who runs the graduate ecology program at College of the Atlantic.
These invasive species compete for the space shared by traditional fisheries. Maine has seen an alarming decline in soft-shell clams (steamers) because of green crabs, another invasive species with no natural predator.
Maine has seen a serious alteration of its fisheries the last 30 years from over-fishing to disease. Petersen said there was a “mass mortality” of star fish deaths several years ago and that they are just starting to show signs of stabilization.
Star fish is important to Ed “Diver Ed” Monat, the beloved operator of the kind of business which made Bar Harbor special. For 20 years, since his graduation from COA, Ed has entertained generations of children with his “Diver Ed Theater,” which was featured on TV’s “Blue World.”
But many of the species Diver Ed was able to demonstrate to the children over the years are gone. This week the Bangor Daily News’s Bill Trotter broke the story about Ed pulling anchor and moving his business to Eastport.
“The town in general has become more congested since 2000, when Monat started offering wildlife tours on Frenchman Bay,” Trotter reported. “He has operated for the past several years from College of the Atlantic, where he attended school in the 1980s, after the cost of renting dock space in downtown Bar Harbor in the summer became prohibitively expensive.
“By operating from the Eastport Windjammers dock, adjacent to the city’s breakwater pier in the heart of the city’s walkable downtown, it will make things simpler for Monat and his customers,” Trotter wrote.
Diminishing invertebrates inside Frenchman Bay forced Diver Ed out to test the eastern part of the bay but the ocean swells and made the trip uncomfortable for passengers. Passamaquody Bay north of Eastport is not subject to ocean swells and has an abundance of the kind of sea creatures Frenchman Bay once had.
Monat said Eastport is one of the world’s best diving destinations, even though extreme tides must be considered.
For years Monat successfully operated off the Porcupine Islands, with its abundance of sea stars, sea urchins and other creatures. “Those days are long gone.”
Is this a cautionary tale bigger than one business pulling stakes?
“The ocean is always changing but very few people have been able to see it the way I did,” Monat said. “It’s not possible to understand it from just looking at the water.”
Monat did not want to publicly discuss his opinion of why so many sea creatures have disappeared from Frenchman Bay but he said it’s more than just the warming of the water which is causing it.
Petersen said a similar warming trend in the Fifties saw a massive shift in species until the water got colder again. “But that was cyclical. What we’re seeing today is a change.”
Frenchman Bay is warmer than its sibling Blue Hill Bay, Petersen pointed out. As a result, the species there “varies a whole lot.”
How much of the change is the result of human activity is open to debate. For instance, what will be the consequence of American Aquafarms’ proposal to build two large feed lots for farmed salmon in Frenchman Bay. Petersen said the nitrogen emitted into the water by the fish feed holds the potential for ecological changes as as algal blooms in the water.
And how that affects sea life is unknown.
“There was a time when dozens of boats were catching fin fish (cod) in Frenchman Bay,” Petersen said.
Getting rolled by lobster rolls
SOUTHWEST HARBOR - Beal’s Lobster Pier in Southwest Harbor takes first place in an informal QSJ poll of the pricing of lobster rolls the week before the holiday weekend. Beal’s lobster roll, with 4.5 ounces of meat, comes in at $34.95. That’s not a typo.
Geddy’s restaurant in Bar Harbor with 4 ounces of meat priced at $33, while 100 feet away at Sherman’s Lobster Pound, a 4-ounce roll will cost you only $27.
Nor’Easter Seafood restaurant has a 4-ounce $25 lobster roll, while the Quietside Cafe was at $18.95 on Thursday but increased to $22.95 by Friday. Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound has a foot-long, six-ounce lobster roll for $39.95 and a 4-ouncer for $21.95.
Lobster pricing has always baffled QSJ. The range of pricing this year is especially puzzling. Maine Public attempted to explain the cause.
If you’re thinking DYI, a pound of picked lobster was selling for $55 at Parson’s Seafood in Bar Harbor and $59 a pound at the Southwest Harbor IGA.
Little Hall is now Beryl Williams Hall at UMaine
SOMESVILLE - The University of Maine trustees who had removed Jackson Labs founder C.C. Little’s name from its eponymous building formally voted Monday to name the lecture hall after the school’s first Black mathematics graduate, Beryl Warner Williams. Little, who served as president of UMaine and University of Michigan, was an eugenics advocate and later a spokesman for the tobacco industry.
Williams, a Bangor native who dedicated her life to education, attended UMaine in the 1930s. She was the first woman to be appointed dean for the Center of Continuing Education in 1970 at Baltimore’s historically Black Morgan State University.
She was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Pedagogy from UMaine in 1972.
Department of corrections, amplications, disambiguations
Last week’s article on cruise ships mis-reported that Queen Anne’s Flower Shop in Bar harbor tripled its business in 2020. The increase was for flowers sold to boats in the harbor only.
The article on the Island Explorer Buses mis-reported that $250,000 was spent on printing schedules, as opposed to 250,000 schedules printed and delivered.
Lincoln’s log …
Listen to the sound of the frogs at this pond just north of Eagle Lake …