It's Earth Day So Let's Talk About Cross River!

Why has Boothbay not developed environmental protection ordinances specific to Cross River?

Kalen Emsley Unsplash

Last night I attended the planning board meeting about a challenge made by Colin A Clark of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the State Attorney General over a permit for building on Cross River, the last undeveloped shoreline in the region.

There is a lot of money to be made in shoreline property, and so developers want to develop it, while others are concerned with the protection of our shoreline and waters and their habitats. During the meeting, the latter was represented by local residents and abutters, while the main focus of the meeting was on satisfying the letter of the law, as the planning board is supposed to do.

The real issue is the lack of tailor-made ordinances for the development of the Cross River shoreline, which in their current state allows for developers to have their go at it, as noted by one local resident who testified that the decision made now sets precedence, asking “Is this what Boothbay wants ?”

The first thing learned…