Ogunquit News
Ogunquit planners discuss the importance of Mount A to the Sea
By C. Ayn Douglass
OGUNQUIT - Paul Schumacher, director of the Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission, and Roger Cole, coordinator of the Mount Agamenticus to the Sea Conservation Initiative, are encouraging the Planning Board to take a regional view of conservation efforts and work with six towns for the benefit of all.The information session was presented to the Ogunquit Planning Board during its meeting Monday night, Sept. 25, at the Dunaway Center.
Schumacher told the audience the six towns - South Berwick, Eliot, Kittery, York, Ogunquit and Wells - need to realize that geographic forces, rather than town lines, ultimately affect the environmental health of each and all of the communities.
The Mount Agamenticus area, he noted, has been cited as the "best wildlife and bio-diversified area in the state of Maine, thanks to its combination of hardwoods and softwoods."
Schumacher said the conservation effort has been successful in preserving more than 11,000 acres of open space due to a two-pronged approach of purchasing land and conservation easements and by community outreach working with towns through SMRPC to modify existing ordinances for land use planning.
Mount A to the Sea raised $10 million in three-and-a-half years towards its capital campaign for land acquisition, he said.
While recognizing that Ogunquit, with its relatively small land mass, is a lesser piece of the pie, Schumacher said certain parcels abutting the Hilton property on Berwick Road largely made up of tree growth are considered prime territory for protection.
"Those properties contain watersheds," he said. "What happens in those areas certainly affects what happens on the beach. A lot of land in Ogunquit is tree growth, but not necessarily protected."
Schumacher said the best strategy for natural resource protection is land acquisition and, while funds are difficult to acquire, various methods have been implemented by the communities to set aside or raise revenues for land protection. Among them are impact fees, town meeting appropriation or bonding for open space, wetland mitigation funds and fees in lieu of land dedication through development review process.
Ogunquit has put into place one of the open space strategies by including a line item of $25,000 in its annual budget for the last three years.
"Open spaces are what make our beaches healthy. Stormwater runoff affects rivers; rivers affect beaches and beaches are our business here," said Mike Horn, chairman of the Ogunquit Conservation Commission.
Currently, according to Horn, the fund stands at approximately $88,000 including that appropriation and donations.
Horn said the commission is stepping up its activity with plans for impact fees.
"The Conservation Commission is working on an open space impact fee to reach the Planning Board later in the year," he said, adding the "drafts are not in amendment form yet. We're trying to get some things into local ordinances for April."
Schumacher said an informational meeting for the towns included in the Mount A to the Sea conservation area will be scheduled later in the fall.
Ogunquit Planning Board members agreed to put the item on the agenda for discussion at their next meeting.
