Mount Desert's "Hornet's Nest" Continues
Town Manager to Meet with Mount Desert 365 Board to talk about Heel Way project and priorities
MOUNT DESERT—A Maine Monitor article about a proposed subdivision on Heel Way sparked concern for the Mount Desert Select Board on Monday. Members were worried about potential compromises to the project’s design and potential de-prioritization. The subdivision creates six homes on one lot in Northeast Harbor. It passed Planning Board review prior to seven summer residents of the town suing the town. The project was upheld in court in June 2024. That is now being appealed.
Selectboard member Martha Dudman referenced the article because creating more opportunities for year round homes in the town has been a focus for the board in the town.
Data from the American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau) and shared in the State of Maine’s housing data portal shows that the town’s population has shrunk by 20% since 2012, going from 2,086 to 1,672. Similarly, its total number of households went from 1,052 in 2012 to 744 in 2022.
That same source indicates that 60% of the town’s homes were seasonally vacant in 2022, an increase from approximately 41% in 2012. In Hancock County, approximately 32% of homes are seasonally vacant.
Town Manager Durlin Lunt said that after reading the article, he called Mount Desert 365 (MD 365) Executive Director Kathleen Miller because he was concerned about the article’s impact and the mention of compromises by MD 365. He’d also talked to a MD 365 board member earlier about the group potentially reorganizing the priority of its projects.
He said that during that earlier conversation, he did not pick up any indication that there would be an adjustment to the Heel Way project itself by board members.
“There was also talk in exchange the plaintiffs would be willing to drop the lawsuit. Why would we want that lawsuit dropped at this point when we’ve already spent most of the money that we’re going to expend on that project already and the chances of a win are very high?” Lunt said. “This project is viable. The project is constitutional and we know this project is needed.”
The town not only has sweat equity by changing the ordinances to accommodate the project, he said, but the town has also invested a good deal of money defending the Planning Board’s decision.
“We won. We won,” Dudman said. “It’s just on appeal.”
She said it’s an attempt to derail the whole project.
“We can’t cave,” Selectboard member Geoffrey Wood agreed.
“We still talk about the need for year-round housing,” Vice Chair Wendy Littlefield said. “It would make no sense to move backward in this at all.”
Lunt said he’d like to have a meeting with the MD 365 board to clarify the accuracy of the article and to understand the priority of projects.
“I want to make sure that there isn’t a back down of commitment to see that Heel Way project is built,” Lunt said.
The board directed and authorized Lunt to meet with the MD 365 board and convey the board’s enthusiasm for the project and have it not be scaled back. The meeting is today at 4.
“I was so aghast,” Lunt said. “We’ve got to straighten this out.”
Lunt said that when he was growing up the proposal for the amount of housing would have only made a little bit of impact, but not much. Back then, he added, there was never worries about housing density in Northeast Harbor proper.
Now, he said, a project that adds 20 unit is impactful on the town with its decreasing year-round population.
“It’s a difference maker,” Lunt said.
According to its website, “Mount Desert 365 is a nonprofit, community-based organization dedicated to fostering a sustainable year-round community while preserving its natural environment.” Founded by Mitchell and Steven Rales, its five-member board is comprised of Dan Falt, Phil Moriarty,Nadia Rosenthal, Ph.D., and Rick Savage
OTTER CREEK UPDATE
Lunt has been working with Acadia National Park officials and boards about the town’s September 2 Otter Creek resolution.
“I’m very happy that the park officials are willing to sit down and discuss,” Lunt said.
Topics include land to widen the town’s boat landing in Otter Creek, egress and ingress of the harbor, trails, vista, and returning Otter Creek to a working waterfront. The village is surrounded by land owned by the park.
“A lot of people underestimated the value of that property to the residents,” Lunt said. “It’s become sort of a mission.”
“It is hoped that this will be the first of as many meetings as is necessary to bring this nearly ninety-year-old issue to a successful resolution,” Lunt wrote in a memo to the board. “It is possible that some of the items enumerated may need Congressional action to be accomplished. Although this may seem a daunting challenge, it is not impossible as there are many historical instances where past injustice has been resolved through such a process.”
Selectboard Chair John Macauley will also attend the October 7 meeting as will Mount Desert Director of Public Works Brian Henkel.
That meeting is scheduled for October 7, 2024, at the Park Headquarters from 10:30 a.m. until noon.
“I would like to thank the Selectboard, the administrative officers of Acadia National Park, and the Park Advisory Commission for their assistance in this important process. Media outlets such as the Bar Harbor Story and The Mount Desert Islander have been most helpful in bringing our concerns to the public through their reporting and need be thanked as well,” Lunt said in his memo.
HAZARDOUS WASTE COLLECTION DAY
For Mount Desert residents to participate in the hazardous waste collection day, registration is encouraged but not required. Each town involved has slightly different rules.
OTHER BUSINESS
SolarLogix will install two photovoltaic systems. One will be at the Somesville Fire Station and the other at the Northeast Harbor Wastewater Treatment Plant garage.
The initial proposal from SolarLogix was for $144,900 for the Station and $99,900 for the WWTP. The cost has been reassessed because of location and design, increasing $9,100. This also allows an additional 3.22 kW of solar generation capacity at the fire station.
MARINA RATES
The town agreed to increase rates at the Northeast Harbor Marina.
The increases still keeps the rates below the only competitor, which Harbormaster John LeMoine said was Great Harbor Marina. The changes had already been unanimously approved by the Harbor Committee.
The rate for vessels under 49 feet increased to $3.45 per foot, the rate for vessels 50 feet to 60 feet increased to $3.95 per foot, and the rate for vessels 60 feet to 99 feet to $4.45 per foot. The rate for vessels 100 feet and over increased to $5.15 per foot.
The board also approved adjusting the Northeast Harbor Marina rate to $20.00 for 30 amp, $31.00 for 50 amp and $60.00 for 100 amp per day for summer electricity starting May 15, 2025.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND FIRE EQUIPMENT
The board authorized $10,532 from the historical preservation account for the preservation and imaging of town documents.
It released $9,800 from the fire equipment reserve account so Fire Chief Mike Bender could purchase structural firefighting gear for firefighters. This enables the firefighters to have two sets of up-to-date gear rather than one. That way, the gear can be washed between fires and shifts, while hopefully allowing each firefighter to always have gear that is clean.
Chief Bender also said that the foam currently used by the department does not have forever chemicals (PFAS) in it. The department last used that sort of foam approximately 10 years ago, Bender said.
Correction! I misidentified Geoff Wood as Rick Mooers. So many apologies to both men. This has been corrected at September 17, at 1 p.m.
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