brunswick

Brunswick residents voiced their disapproval before the town Monday regarding a shoreline development at Miller’s Point they say should never have been permitted.

In response to the work being done at Miller’s Point, the council also moved to pass a moratorium on new development in the Natural Resource Protection Zone, allowing the Planning Board to bring their codes in line with state laws within the next 90 days. 

The wording of the moratorium, however, does not include activity that is currently underway and approved by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. That would include the Miller’s Point project.

According to town attorney Stephen Langsdorf, much of the planning ordinances are left to interpretation, allowing for little or no town oversight over shoreline projects. 

Landowners Robert and Nancy King want to develop 228 acres they purchased in 1999. Their plans building four homes on 41 acreas while leaving 187 acres of conservation easement. 

At issue is about 625 feet of shoreline scheduled to be lined with riprap — a process where tons of earth will be removed and replaced by piles of boulders. The once wooded area to be developed has already been clear cut in preparation for the work.  

While the Kings had obtained all necessary documentation from the state Department of Natural Resources, the Army Corps of Engineers and had notified abutting neighbors, they were apparently told by the Planning Department they didn’t need of a local permit.

Resident Richard Knox happened upon the  riprap staging area about a month and a half ago, describing it as about the length of two football fields of boulders piled high that will replace the natural coastline.

Knox said he has hired legal council to help enforce the Brunswick Zoning Ordinance and point out oversights made by the town.

In comments, he told the council they should place an immediate stop notice on the worksite pending review by the planning board. Knox said loopholes and lack of oversight are poor excuses for not adhering to applicable state laws. Knox held much of his criticism for the Planning Department.

“A department that’s always done it this way, which cut corners and made factual errors in this case and had issued a verbal incorrect recommendation which the land owners council and contractor were content not to question or confirm in writing,” Knox said. 

Knox said that Langsdorf is doing his job by protecting staff and reducing the town’s legal exposure — something Knox said he believes influenced Langsdorf’s decision not to change course. 

Citing the planning department’s handling of the project, Knox asked the council to take action to stop the project for Planning Board review, saying “two wrongs will not make a right.”

Rob Manter, owner of Maine Pines Racquet and Fitness, said that as an avid paddler, he has concerns about the coastline alterations. 

“When I paddled out recently on a warm day and I looked at Miller Point and that strip of land I thought — wow, how’d this get stripped?”

Manter said that when he paddles on the coast of Maine, he doesn’t want to feel like he’s on the coast of New Jersey.

Resident Henry Heyburn said that his job and the many outdoor offerings the state has drew him here.

Heyburn said the missteps taken by the town along the way set a flawed precedent. He said that if the King’s plans went on unchecked, any shorefront property owner in the region could do the same with little justification and no oversight. 

“We all make mistakes. It’s difficult for me to be up here — I feel like it’s important I can trust town officials and so I do that but in this case, I feel like we’ve made a mistake and we should do everything we can to rectify it,” Heyburn said, adding that it doesn’t instill confidence having to appear before the council and ask them to do something that should have been done in the first place. 

When asked by Councilor Jane Millett why there was less scrutiny for another shoreline development in the area Councilor Steve Walker noted the other project was a “living shoreline” that was more incorporated into and compatible with nature. 

Walker said a tour of the boulder staging area is around eight feet high and 800 feet long, saying you could imagine what the visual impact might be for the King’s project. He said the Kings were essentially changing the geology of the shoreline. 

“This one’s fighting nature — that’s the big difference here,” Walker said. 

dmcintire@timesrecord.com