Update 10/11/2013 - The Town Council and Conservation Comission will hold a workshop on the 2013 Greenbelt Plan update at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013 at Town Hall. Prior to the workshop the council will meet at 5 p.m. for a site walk at the end of Pilot Point Road. [ agenda]

10/08/2013

Councilors go slow on adopting 2013 Greenbelt Plan update

The Town Council will likely hold a workshop, and possibly and a site walk, before adopting the draft 2013 Greenbelt PlanConservation Commission.

At their meeting Oct. 7, 2013 the council voted to receive the plan, but agreed to seek more information about the controversial aspects of the document, which is a guide for the development of the town's trail system.

"It has been very challenging, yet certainly rewarding to work on this document," Conservation Commission Chairman Garvan Donegan told members of the council. During 14 meetings and two public forums, the commission heard testimony from 600 speakers, and received more than 200 emails and correspondence, including three petitions, Donegan said. "The plan significantly evolved and changed throughout the commission's development," he said.

There is also a concept map, but Donegan said more important are the goals for expanding trails and open space in the next 10 years. These goals include linking trails in 23 locations throughout town, with a focus on six priorities utilizing the Shore Road path, Fort Williams Park, Dyer Woods, Loveitt Woods, the town center and Robinson Woods. The last priority, which is the last link of the Stonegate/Robinson Woods trail system connecting the town center, is small but significant, Donegan said. "It would serve to get legal public access to part of Robinson Woods and help accomplish some of the great work of the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust, as well as resources from the town," he said.

Donegan emphasized the greenbelt's history of working with willing private-property owners and respecting private-property rights, but some speakers at the Oct. 7 council meeting questioned the process of developing the Greenbelt Plan proposal. Penny Jordan, an owner of Jordan's Farm on Wells Road, said that trails envisioned for what is currently private property should not be depicted on a map if the owner has not agreed to it. She also questioned the legal ramifications if hikers stray from public trails to nearby private property.

"I think the bottom line is, as you look at this plan you need to assess it from a property-owner perspective," Jordan said.

Shore Acres 'paper street'

Other speakers were concerned about a potential trail along a coastal paper street. The street, Surf Side Avenue, is part of the 1911 recorded Shore Acres subdivision but, except for a portion that is a private gravel road, the street was never developed.

Pilot Point Road resident Marshall Goldman said use of the paper street, which he said runs through his back yard, is a neighborhood controversy that has become a town concern, and urged councilors to gather facts - independent of individual points of view - before proceeding with the plan. "What was the reason for the paper street to begin with? Was it ever intended to be public path or just a street? Does the (town) still retain legal rights?" Goldman said.

Town councilors agreed that public rights in paper streets is a question that needs an answer. "I think if we don't push through this issue somehow it's going to come up again," said Councilor Kathy Ray.

David Sherman, another councilor, said that if a workshop is scheduled the town attorney should be invited. He also suggested discussion with the Conservation Commission to understand their rationale, and a possible council visit to Surf Side Avenue. Sherman said he did not want to prolong the process, but, "we just need to become educated to make a better decision."

The next council workshop is slated for Wednesday, Oct. 16, and councilors agreed that the Greenbelt Plan should be on the agenda. A public hearing will also likely be scheduled before the council adopts the plan.

First plan goes back to 1977

The proposed 2013 Greenbelt Plan is an update to the plan first formulated in 1977, and revised in 1988 and 2001. What began as a vision for a trail from Fort Williams Park to Crescent Beach has become a 24-mile system of trails and 1,100 acres of permanently preserved open space.

The town's comprehensive plan recommends Greenbelt Plan updates every seven years.

Since the last plan update in 2001, more than 11 miles of trails have been added to the greenbelt, Conservation Commission Chair Donegan said. "It is the Conservation Commission's intent to work with willing private-property owners and to respect private property rights," he said. Case studies in the 2013 update show how the town has worked with private owners to attain public access.