Harpswell officials hosted a community meeting Tuesday, Dec. 9, to explain a Town Meeting warrant article that would allow the town to improve and maintain public access to a rocky, state-owned beach at Clark Cove.
The property encompasses about 18.5 acres on the east side of Harpswell Neck, with roughly 1,500 feet of shorefront. The state owns a separate parcel of about 2.3 acres on the opposite side of Allen Point Road, but that parcel is not part of the proposal.
Town leaders said the state bought the former farmland in 1972 for $80,000 as part of a broader initiative to secure scenic properties for public recreation, but no trails or parking were ever developed.
The Town Lands Committee has since proposed a management agreement with the state Bureau of Parks and Lands in which Harpswell would lightly improve and maintain the property.
“This will never be another Mitchell Field or Cliff Trail, but … it would be a place for people who are trying to gain access to a very private beach and (an) open field overlooking Harpswell Sound,” said Ken Oehmig, co-chair of the Town Lands Committee.
The Harpswell Select Board voted 2-0 at its Oct. 2 meeting to place the proposal before voters in March. Chair Kevin Johnson and member Matt Gilley voted in favor. Member David Chipman abstained, saying he is a beneficiary of a family trust that owns land abutting the site.
The agreement would involve adding signage, three to four parking spaces and a beach access trail. The town is proposing on-street parking along Allen Point Road, but that could change to a small gravel lot farther from the roadway.
Voters will consider the deal in March, along with $5,000 to post signs along the site’s northern boundary to prevent visitors from wandering onto adjacent private property. The site would be managed by local volunteers and town staff.
Nearby homeowners have repeatedly voiced strong opposition to the plan, including several who attended Tuesday’s meeting. Their pointed, often confrontational questioning made up the bulk of the meeting’s 90-minute run time.
The residents expressed concerns about increased traffic, neighborhood safety, and visitors trespassing on their land, among other objections. Some asked that the town not advertise the trail’s existence to keep the site from exploding in popularity.
Another major issue raised by the nearby property owners is whether improving access to the site would negatively impact birds and other wildlife on the property.
Abutter Patty Laughren asked if the town plans to conduct a formal study of the potential impacts on wildlife, noting that the area includes sensitive wetlands.
Town Administrator Kristi Eiane said the state gave town officials advice on how to mitigate wildlife impacts, such as by not mowing the field during nesting season. She said a note from the state confirmed there are no mapped freshwater wetlands on the site, so a formal study is not required.
There was some discussion about whether voters would need to approve the proposal twice: once to authorize the management agreement, and a second time to approve specific site improvements. However, town officials seemed to agree that a single vote in March would suffice.
Abutter Jim Laughren argued that the town should finalize details of the proposed management agreement before bringing the issue before voters.
“You should be coming to us with that today,” he said. “You’re putting the cart before the horse.”
Area resident Tracy Johnson Colby said she opposes the proposed site improvements. She said Allen Point Road already has too much traffic and asked that the town abandon its proposal.
“I don’t know where all these people are coming from, but it has become dangerous to walk down that road,” Johnson Colby said.
A few of the meeting’s roughly 25 attendees spoke in favor of the plan to improve public access to the site. They included nearby residents Heidi and Hank Thorburn, who said they won’t oppose it as long as the town doesn’t keep adding new elements.
“It is a beautiful beach,” Heidi Thorburn said. “Not everybody has access to the beach.”
