lobster
04-07-2005, 11:21
<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="73%">Moosehead plan's impact weighed
Thursday, April 07, 2005 - Bangor Daily News<SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="../PPL1Review.aspx?a=111616"> </SCRIPT> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=center align=middle>[/url]</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=center align=middle>[url="javascript:ppl1review();"]Submit Your Thoughts (javascript:ppl1review();)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Email This Article To A Friend (javascript:openppl('pplsendarticle.aspx?a=111616&z=500',0,0,400,260)) Print This Article (http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/templates/default.aspx?a=111616&template=print-article.htm) Go Back (javascript:history.go(-1))</TD></TR><TR><TD width="73%" bgColor=#666666 height=3></TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD align=left width="73%"><TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width="20%" align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=images></TD></TR><TR><TD class=text></TD></TR><TR><TD class=text></TD></TR><TR><TD class=text>http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/images/link.gif Learn more about the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission (http://www.state.me.us/doc/lurc/index.shtml)
http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/images/link.gif Learn more about the Natural Resources Council of Maine (http://www.maineenvironment.org/)
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=text></TD></TR><TR><TD class=text>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The biggest development project ever proposed for the Maine woods started its journey this week as a massive application for Plum Creek Timber Co.'s plan for the future of the Moosehead Lake region was filed with the state. The 570-page document involving 426,340 acres proposes 975 house lots, 67 ponds, four sporting camps, two resorts, and even a golf course.
Never before has a company asked the state to approve three decades' worth of development in one fell swoop. Never before has the Land Use Regulation Commission, the state agency charged with managing Maine's unorganized territories, considered the simultaneous development of thousands of homes, resorts, sporting camps, boat launches and campgrounds.
"We've got something in there for everybody," Jim Lehner, Plum Creek's regional manager, said Tuesday. "We're convinced that the more people know about the project, the more they're going to support it."
But getting a first glimpse of the plan Wednesday didn't calm the fears of conservationists like Cathy Johnson of the Natural Resources Council of Maine.
The 575 shorefront homes and 400 homes in the woods the plan proposes actually exceed predictions made when the concept was first revealed in December. If approved, the Plum Creek project would increase available housing in the broadly defined Moosehead region by 20 percent.
"I'm very concerned ... this will definitely change the character of the area," Johnson said Wednesday.
Plum Creek proposed setting aside 89 percent of the total acreage as working forestland, which it refers to as a "wood basket" for the region's forest products industry. During the plan's life, the boundaries of this conservation land might change, but its total acreage could not.
An additional 10,891 acres of shorefront land would be set aside under permanent conservation easements, as would 71 miles of snowmobile trails and 55 miles of hiking trails. Conservation lands include 55 ponds that will be protected from development.
The company also has offered to sell 30,825 acres of property on Second Roach, Third Roach and Penobscot ponds to the state - removing 28 potential house lots from the project's total. The Maine Department of Conservation already is discussing the offer with Plum Creek, but a spokesman declined to comment on specifics Wednesday.
Johnson is concerned that the conservation figures might be exaggerated, with much of the preserved shoreline serving as privacy buffers between house lots or protecting "beaver ponds" that wouldn't be suitable for development anyway.
"The value is almost exclusively for the people whose houses are there," she said.
But Plum Creek points out that no conservation is required. The company is choosing to preserve the majority of the property to work with the local community and ease worries about the company's long-term goals, officials said.
"People [would] know [these lands] are never going to be developed - ever," Lehner said. "The biggest benefit of this project is certainty."
That security would ease the mind of John Simko, town manager for Greenville and one of the plan's biggest supporters. The Greenville region is changing so fast that locals can barely keep up with the new subdivisions sprouting along logging roads in nearby unorganized territories.
"There is tremendous demand here," Simko said. "Just drive around. Places that not too long ago were stretches of undeveloped woods ... you see driveways, houses, for-sale signs."
Local people have worried that private landowners might sell "kingdom lots" that lock up large swaths of property, placing restrictions on traditional activities such as snowmobiling, hunting and logging.
Instead, the 3- to 5-acre lots anticipated by Plum Creek would be clustered to preserve forestland, according to the plan. The company also has offered to donate 100 acres to local communities for the development of "affordable housing" - something that Greenville sorely needs, Simko said.
In fact, Lehrer said Wednesday he expects the cost of the lots to be "a value that the normal Mainer could afford." The company's comparatively small development along the shore of First Roach Pond provides a good model, he said. A majority of the properties are owned by Mainers who paid somewhere in the $60,000 to $100,000 range, he said.
The plan also proposes setting 80 acres aside for sporting camps, 600 acres for commercial campgrounds, 500 acres for a "tourist center" at Brassura Lake, and 3,000 acres for a high-end resort at Lily Bay, on the southeastern corner of Moosehead Lake.
That resort - for now, based on a model ecotourism resort developed by Maine tourism officials - could boast a marina, restaurants, a spa and fitness center, an indoor pool, tennis courts, horse stables and a golf course. And that's in addition to the 190 private house lots planned for the cove, located a stone's throw from Lily Bay State Park.
Johnson fears that the clientele drawn to this sort of luxury resort community will be far from "average Mainers."
And the plan filed this week may be just the start of Plum Creek's intentions for Maine, she said, noting that the company owns another 500,000 acres near Jackman, which are not mentioned in the document.
But this 426,000-plus acres could be locked up for the foreseeable future if state officials approve the plan. Once the "concept plan" is in place, acquiring building permits for any individual project would involve a fairly simple process, with LURC only responsible for ensuring that the details comply with the overall plan and other state law. Most of the planned development would occur in the next 10-15 years, according to Plum Creek.
Nothing in the plan could be changed for 30 years and then additional development could only occur with LURC approval. If no further development is requested at the end of 30 years, the concept plan would automatically be renewed for another 20 years.
"It's as permanent as LURC wants to make it," Lehner said.
The Resource Plan for Plum Creek's Gateway Lands in the Moosehead region will be available to the public at the Jackman and Greenville town offices on Monday. A pdf file of the full document is available online at www.bangordailynews.com, however, high-speed Internet access is recommended for downloading the large file. A fact sheet and map will be posted at www.maine.gov/doc/lurc/reference/resourceplans/moosehead.html by early next week. LURC has not yet scheduled any meetings on the plan, but expects to hold informal workshops as well as formal public hearings as it considers the plan in coming months. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Thursday, April 07, 2005 - Bangor Daily News<SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="../PPL1Review.aspx?a=111616"> </SCRIPT> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=center align=middle>[/url]</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=center align=middle>[url="javascript:ppl1review();"]Submit Your Thoughts (javascript:ppl1review();)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Email This Article To A Friend (javascript:openppl('pplsendarticle.aspx?a=111616&z=500',0,0,400,260)) Print This Article (http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/templates/default.aspx?a=111616&template=print-article.htm) Go Back (javascript:history.go(-1))</TD></TR><TR><TD width="73%" bgColor=#666666 height=3></TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD align=left width="73%"><TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width="20%" align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=images></TD></TR><TR><TD class=text></TD></TR><TR><TD class=text></TD></TR><TR><TD class=text>http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/images/link.gif Learn more about the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission (http://www.state.me.us/doc/lurc/index.shtml)
http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/images/link.gif Learn more about the Natural Resources Council of Maine (http://www.maineenvironment.org/)
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=text></TD></TR><TR><TD class=text>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The biggest development project ever proposed for the Maine woods started its journey this week as a massive application for Plum Creek Timber Co.'s plan for the future of the Moosehead Lake region was filed with the state. The 570-page document involving 426,340 acres proposes 975 house lots, 67 ponds, four sporting camps, two resorts, and even a golf course.
Never before has a company asked the state to approve three decades' worth of development in one fell swoop. Never before has the Land Use Regulation Commission, the state agency charged with managing Maine's unorganized territories, considered the simultaneous development of thousands of homes, resorts, sporting camps, boat launches and campgrounds.
"We've got something in there for everybody," Jim Lehner, Plum Creek's regional manager, said Tuesday. "We're convinced that the more people know about the project, the more they're going to support it."
But getting a first glimpse of the plan Wednesday didn't calm the fears of conservationists like Cathy Johnson of the Natural Resources Council of Maine.
The 575 shorefront homes and 400 homes in the woods the plan proposes actually exceed predictions made when the concept was first revealed in December. If approved, the Plum Creek project would increase available housing in the broadly defined Moosehead region by 20 percent.
"I'm very concerned ... this will definitely change the character of the area," Johnson said Wednesday.
Plum Creek proposed setting aside 89 percent of the total acreage as working forestland, which it refers to as a "wood basket" for the region's forest products industry. During the plan's life, the boundaries of this conservation land might change, but its total acreage could not.
An additional 10,891 acres of shorefront land would be set aside under permanent conservation easements, as would 71 miles of snowmobile trails and 55 miles of hiking trails. Conservation lands include 55 ponds that will be protected from development.
The company also has offered to sell 30,825 acres of property on Second Roach, Third Roach and Penobscot ponds to the state - removing 28 potential house lots from the project's total. The Maine Department of Conservation already is discussing the offer with Plum Creek, but a spokesman declined to comment on specifics Wednesday.
Johnson is concerned that the conservation figures might be exaggerated, with much of the preserved shoreline serving as privacy buffers between house lots or protecting "beaver ponds" that wouldn't be suitable for development anyway.
"The value is almost exclusively for the people whose houses are there," she said.
But Plum Creek points out that no conservation is required. The company is choosing to preserve the majority of the property to work with the local community and ease worries about the company's long-term goals, officials said.
"People [would] know [these lands] are never going to be developed - ever," Lehner said. "The biggest benefit of this project is certainty."
That security would ease the mind of John Simko, town manager for Greenville and one of the plan's biggest supporters. The Greenville region is changing so fast that locals can barely keep up with the new subdivisions sprouting along logging roads in nearby unorganized territories.
"There is tremendous demand here," Simko said. "Just drive around. Places that not too long ago were stretches of undeveloped woods ... you see driveways, houses, for-sale signs."
Local people have worried that private landowners might sell "kingdom lots" that lock up large swaths of property, placing restrictions on traditional activities such as snowmobiling, hunting and logging.
Instead, the 3- to 5-acre lots anticipated by Plum Creek would be clustered to preserve forestland, according to the plan. The company also has offered to donate 100 acres to local communities for the development of "affordable housing" - something that Greenville sorely needs, Simko said.
In fact, Lehrer said Wednesday he expects the cost of the lots to be "a value that the normal Mainer could afford." The company's comparatively small development along the shore of First Roach Pond provides a good model, he said. A majority of the properties are owned by Mainers who paid somewhere in the $60,000 to $100,000 range, he said.
The plan also proposes setting 80 acres aside for sporting camps, 600 acres for commercial campgrounds, 500 acres for a "tourist center" at Brassura Lake, and 3,000 acres for a high-end resort at Lily Bay, on the southeastern corner of Moosehead Lake.
That resort - for now, based on a model ecotourism resort developed by Maine tourism officials - could boast a marina, restaurants, a spa and fitness center, an indoor pool, tennis courts, horse stables and a golf course. And that's in addition to the 190 private house lots planned for the cove, located a stone's throw from Lily Bay State Park.
Johnson fears that the clientele drawn to this sort of luxury resort community will be far from "average Mainers."
And the plan filed this week may be just the start of Plum Creek's intentions for Maine, she said, noting that the company owns another 500,000 acres near Jackman, which are not mentioned in the document.
But this 426,000-plus acres could be locked up for the foreseeable future if state officials approve the plan. Once the "concept plan" is in place, acquiring building permits for any individual project would involve a fairly simple process, with LURC only responsible for ensuring that the details comply with the overall plan and other state law. Most of the planned development would occur in the next 10-15 years, according to Plum Creek.
Nothing in the plan could be changed for 30 years and then additional development could only occur with LURC approval. If no further development is requested at the end of 30 years, the concept plan would automatically be renewed for another 20 years.
"It's as permanent as LURC wants to make it," Lehner said.
The Resource Plan for Plum Creek's Gateway Lands in the Moosehead region will be available to the public at the Jackman and Greenville town offices on Monday. A pdf file of the full document is available online at www.bangordailynews.com, however, high-speed Internet access is recommended for downloading the large file. A fact sheet and map will be posted at www.maine.gov/doc/lurc/reference/resourceplans/moosehead.html by early next week. LURC has not yet scheduled any meetings on the plan, but expects to hold informal workshops as well as formal public hearings as it considers the plan in coming months. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>