Ellsworth American
“Eco-Resort Community” Concept To Be Explained at May 14 Session
By Tom Walsh
April 24, 2008
WINTER HARBOR — Proponents of a plan to develop 3,200 acres of wilderness adjacent to Schoodic Point will go public with their “conservation community” concept at an informational meeting on May 14.
Attorney Mike Saxl, the former Speaker of the House in the Maine Legislature from 2000-2002 who now represents the property’s owners, asked Winter Harbor Town Manager Roger Barto to schedule the public meeting.
That forum is now set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14, in the Winter Harbor Gymnasium.
Neither Saxl nor any of his development team participated in a public meeting hosted last week by the Schoodic Committee of Friends of Acadia to discuss the “eco-resort” concept and other issues.
About 75 people attended the April 17 event held in the John G. Moore Auditorium at the Schoodic Education and Resource Center, which is located within the Schoodic Section of Acadia National Park. Opponents of the concept appeared to outweigh supporters during a 90-minute debate over a site plan. That plan shows two hotels, an 18-hole golf course and a mix of seasonal and year-round housing.
A few of those who spoke in favor of the concept noted that tourism has been a staple of Winter Harbor’s local economy for more than a century, dating back to the development of the Grindstone Neck enclave for wealthy East Coast “rusticators.”
The plan appears to be controversial because of its doorstep proximity to Acadia National Park and its sheer size.
Just over 3,000 acres of the rugged and heavily timbered parcels involved are within Winter Harbor, representing approximately 40 percent of the town’s total area. In Winter Harbor, the property extends across both sides of Route 186. It also includes shoreline property around Sargent Island and along Moore Road that extends to the only entrance to the National Park Service’s scenic Schoodic Point loop road.
Another 166.6 acres are in adjacent Gouldsboro, providing access to both East Schoodic Drive in Birch Harbor and Route 195 in Prospect Harbor.
At 3,200 acres, the property proposed for development is one-third larger than National Park service holdings at Schoodic Point, which total 2,400 acres.
Both the Winter Harbor and Gouldsboro planning boards met separately last week to discuss the preliminary concept as it has been explained to select town officials behind closed doors. Neither board has been briefed by Saxl or his team of consultants.
The site plan developed for Italian millionaire Bruno Modena and other investors calls for construction of a network of carriage roads similar to those in place on Mount Desert Island, within Acadia National Park.
The plan also speculates that “the community may also establish an agreement with Acadia National Park that would convert the Schoodic Peninsula’s roadway into a carriage road, limiting access to bicycles and electric vehicles.”
Not likely, says Sheridan Steele, the superintendent of Acadia National Park.
“That’s actually absurd,” Steele said Monday. “I can’t imagine we would do that, and we certainly wouldn’t do it without public comment. Frankly, I don’t know why we would. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a non-starter.”
Steele said Schoodic Point’s popular six-mile loop road handled nearly 200,000 vehicles during 2007 and as many as 570 per day in August.
The site plan also calls for what’s described as an 18-hole “eco-friendly” golf course now planned north of Route 186. The developers claim the course, which would be surrounded by wetlands, would be “Audubon-certified.”
That is apparently news to the Maine chapter of the Audubon Society. Although the Audubon International Web site outlines an “Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses,” the conservation organization’s Maine chapter has never been approached about building a course in Winter Harbor that would preserve natural areas and wildlife habitats.
“Neither Maine Audubon nor National Audubon have [sic] anything to do with the Audubon-certified golf course program,” said Maine Audubon Conservation Director Sally Stockwell in a letter read at the April 17 public forum. “This program is run by an independent group based in New York. We have not reviewed the details of the program and do not have any opinion about the merits of the program one way or another.”
