York Town News
Future of Camp Eaton, Fazio's top most recent Planning Board agenda
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - The Planning Board has met twice in the past two weeks, reviewing such high-profile applications as the proposed Fazio/Woodbridge Square project and Highland Farm Phase 2, and hearing about a new vision for the oceanfront Camp Eaton.The Planning Board met exclusively to discuss Highland Farm, the second phase of a major subdivision of the former golf course and country club on Cider Hill Road/Route 91, on Dec. 7. At that meeting, as has been the case throughout the review of the project, a number of residents, abutters and conservationists voiced concerns about the potential impact on wildlife, wetlands and water quality for Boulter Pond.
The Planning Board will meet in January to continue its discussions with Moon River Development and schedule a vote on the preliminary review phase of the project.
The board held its regular application review meeting last Thursday, Dec. 14, and continued the preliminary review of Fazio/Woodbridge Square, an application to construct a new office building to replace two of the three buildings on the site of Fazio's Restaurant in York Village.
Jamie Lowery, a member of the design team, highlighted changes in the plan based the board's prior comments about the application, including sidewalks, improved vehicular movement through the site, widening a proposed drop-off location for the new building and the addition of short-term spaces to alleviate parking concerns. The team is also considering low-impact development standards for stormwater management of the site, he noted.
"We're more or less taking away five or 10 feet of pavement," he told the board.
Steve McHenry of McHenry Architecture in Portsmouth, N.H., another member of the design team, explained the vision for the project.
"The point of the design is that, constrained by this difficult site and trying to create the same amount of square footage … we think it's appropriate to the neighborhood. Stylistcally, we hope it's respectful to the neighborhood it's in," he said, describing the proposed building as a potential focal point for an evolving area of town.
The final item on the agenda focused on Camp Eaton, a place near and dear to the hearts of many who visit York each year, and to those who enjoy the diversity of visitors to the beach each summer.
Peter Wagner, who runs Camp Eaton with his wife Kathy, met with the board to discuss long-term plans for the campground, which has been in the same family for more than 80 years on approximately 35 oceanfront acres along York Street, where York Harbor meets Long Sands Beach. The agenda item called for a review of the master plan for the campground.
It was 10 years ago, in 1996, Wagner said, that he stood before the Planning Board "and presented for you folks a master plan of our planned activities for the next five to 10 years. … Basically, I wanted to repeat that effort, since 10 years have passed."
Reviewing the layout of the camp as it is currently configured, with 301 tent and recreational vehicle sites, Wagner said he and his wife are considering a reconfiguration that would result in a drop in that number.
"The whole drive in the RV-trailer industry is bigger," he said of the size of RVs and their sites at campgrounds.
To meet that need, he said, the reconfiguration would reduce the number of available sites by about a dozen, with a move away from transient rentals to seasonal sites.
"We're a little town … we have all the aspects of a little town within a town," Wagner said of Camp Eaton, adding the change in operations will make the campground easier to manage and provide more amenities for those spending a season - or all the weekends of the season - at the site.
Utilities and security issues plummet with a long-term clientele, he said, and help create a neighborhood feel as opposed to constant turnover.
"We're talking about consolidating our recreation … in a single area," he said, describing a playground, open spaces for games, a fenced area for dogs and a pavilion for activities for campers and their children.
The plan also includes replacing the office and residence and removing some aging structures on the site. The tenting area would be discontinued and would become a site for recreation at the camp, and the number of sites would drop from 301 to 273, he said.
Town Planner Steve Burns explained that the business decision of changing from transient to seasonal sites is beyond the Planning Board's jurisdiction, but that physical changes to the site related to that transition - such as substantive changes to the property - would require a site plan for the entire campground to be approved by the board.
A replacement of an existing building with another building would be handled at the CEO level, unless a site plan review was already underway.
Planning Board Chairman Glen MacWilliams applauded the Wagners' vision and their work on the presentation, and abutters spoke in favor of the change from transient to seasonal use.
"The campground has been a good neighbor for us for many, many years," said Bruce Clough, an abutter, adding one concern would be the location and buffering of the recreational area.
The board agreed that such issues as streams, wetlands and buffering on the site would be discussed as a plan comes forward.
In other business, the board reviewed plans for a two-lot subdivision on Ledgeview Lane, approved changes to the Lombardi/Cape Neddick House parking configuration as requested by the Department of Public Works, approved plans to resolve a default situation at the Davis Drive Subdivision and approved minor site amendments for the Anchorage project.
The board's next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 11, at the York Public Library.
