Lincolnville, Camden address concerns over increased mooring placements in ponds, lake
LINCOLNVILLE and CAMDEN — Over the past several years, in some cases even longer, boaters have been setting out moorings in the early summer for their small sailboats in the lakes and ponds. There’s no law against it, provided they stay within 200 feet of shoreline; however, the local public is starting to take notice, and it is now an issue before the Town of Lincolnville as well as the Camden Select Board.
Most noticeably, the boats have been anchored or moored near the Bog Bridge public landing in Camden, on Route 105.
A Lincolnville resident had been watching the number of boats increase there and contacted his town office, according to Town Administrator David Kinney. The Lincolnville resident asked his town to be proactive as opposed to reactive to a quiet yet growing trend in the lake of keeping small boats in the water as opposed to launching and pulling them out on a trailer and taking them home.
That prompted scheduling an agenda item for discussion among selectmen.
On Sept. 10, the Lincolnville selectmen voted to hold a special town meeting Sept. 24 and ask citizens if they want to approve a 180-day moratorium on all moorings placed in Lincolnville inland waterways until the town could research and craft ordinance language governing mooring placement in lakes and ponds, even rivers.
Lincolnville’s inland waterways include part of Megunticook Lake, and Norton, Moody, Coleman and Pitcher ponds, as well as Ducktrap River, which empties in Penobscot Bay.
Lincolnville already has ordinance language governing mooring placement in the salt water; that is under purview of the harbor master and town and state regulations. State law governing mooring placement can be found here.
The Camden Select Board has also taken note of the burbling conversations about the moorings at Bog Bridge and will discuss the issue this evening at its Sept. 18 regularly scheduled meeting. The board will discuss the approach that Lincolnville is adopting this evening in the John French meeting room on Washington Street.
The proposed Lincolnville moratorium language follows. The Lincolnville special town meeting will begin at 6 p.m., Sept. 24, at the Lincolnville Central School
Article 2. Shall an ordinance entitled “Town of Lincolnville Moratorium Ordinance on Inland Waterway Moorings” be enacted?
TOWN OF LINCOLNVILLE
MORATORIUM ORDINANCE ON INLAND WATERWAY MOORINGS
WHEREAS, the State of Maine does not control the placement of moorings on inland waterways in the Town of Lincolnville (e.g., Megunticook Lake, Norton Pond, Coleman Pond, Pitcher Pond, Knight Pond, Moody Pond and Levenseller Pond); and
WHEREAS, the placement of moorings on inland waterways in Lincolnville, ifcontrolled, is controlled by the Town of Lincolnville (the “Town”); and
WHEREAS, neighboring municipalities have recently received inquiries about the possibility of placement of moorings on inland waterways that are partially located in the Town; and
WHEREAS, the potential unregulated location of moorings on inland waterways in the Town raises legitimate and substantial questions about the impact of such moorings on the boating public, neighboring property owners and neighboring municipalities, including questions of the compatibility of the moorings with existing uses and developments on or near the inland waterway; the adequacy of the waterway to handle multiple moorings; the potential adverse health and safety effects of moorings on the community if not properly regulated; and the potential increased burden on the Town’sInland Harbor Master and related law enforcement agencies; and
WHEREAS, the Town’s current ordinances do not adequately address the concerns listed above; and
WHEREAS, the possible effect of the location of moorings on inland waterways has implications for the health, safety and welfare of the Town and its citizens; and
WHEREAS, the Town needs time to study its own ordinances to determine the implications of future proposed moorings on inland waterways and to develop reasonable ordinances governing the location and operation of such moorings to address the concerns cited above; and
WHEREAS, the Town, under its home rule authority, its police power generally and as otherwise provided by law, has the authority to impose reasonable restrictions, conditions, and limitations on such inland waterway moorings; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Selectmen, with the professional advice and assistance of the Lakes & Ponds Committee, Recreation Commission, Inland Harbor Master and Town staff, shall study the Town’s ordinances to determine the land use and other regulatory implications of inland waterway moorings and consider what locations and conditions of approval might be appropriate for such moorings; and
WHEREAS, the Town’s current ordinances and other applicable laws, if any, are not adequate to prevent serious public harm possibly to be caused by the location of inland waterway moorings in Lincolnville, thereby necessitating a moratorium; and
WHEREAS, a moratorium is necessary to prevent an overburdening of public facilities that is reasonably foreseeable as the result of inland waterway moorings being located in the Town; and
WHEREAS, it is anticipated that such a study, review, and development of recommended ordinance changes will take at least one hundred and eighty (180) days from the date the Town first enacts this Moratorium Ordinance on Inland Waterway Moorings;
NOW, THEREFORE, be it ordained that the following Moratorium Ordinance on Inland Waterway Moorings be, and hereby is, enacted, and, in furtherance thereof, the Town does hereby declare a moratorium on the location, licensing or permitting of any inland waterway mooring within the Town. This Ordinance shall take effect in accordance with the provisions of the Town Charter, but shall be applicable as of August 27, 2018, as expressly provided below. The moratorium shall remain in effect for one hundred and eighty (180) days from the date of applicability of this Ordinance, unless extended, repealed, or modified by the Board of Selectmen, for the express purpose of drafting an amendment or amendments to the Town’s ordinances to protect the public from health and safety risks including, but not limited to, compatibility of the moorings with existing uses and developments on or near the waterway; the adequacy of the waterway to handle multiple moorings; the potential adverse health and safety effects of moorings on the community if not properly regulated; and the potential increasedburden on the Town’s Harbor Master and related law enforcement agencies;
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that this Ordinance shall apply to inland waterway moorings that may be proposed to be located within the Town on or after the August 27, 2018 applicability date of this Ordinance; and
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that notwithstanding the provisions of 1 M.R.S.A. § 302 or any other law to the contrary, this Ordinance, when enacted, shall govern any proposed inland waterway mooring for which an application for a mooring permit or any other required approval has not been submitted and acted on by the Harbor Master or other Town official prior to August 27, 2018, the applicability date of this Ordinance; and
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that no person or organization shall install an inland waterway mooring within the Town on or after the August 27, 2018 applicability date of this Ordinance without complying with whatever ordinance amendment or amendments Town meeting may enact as a result of this moratorium ordinance; and
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that during the time this moratorium ordinance is in effect, no officer, official, employee, office, administrative board or agency of the Town shall accept, process, approve, deny, or in any other way act upon any application for a license, permit and/or any other approval related to an inland waterway mooring; and
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that those provisions of the Town’s ordinances that are inconsistent or conflicting with the provisions of this Ordinance, are hereby repealed to the extent that they are applicable for the duration of the moratorium hereby ordained, and as it may be extended as permitted by law, but not otherwise; and
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that if any inland waterway moorings are installed or established in violation of this Ordinance, each day of any continuing violation shall constitute a separate violation of this Ordinance, and the Town shall be entitled to all rights available to it in law and equity, including, but not limited to, finesand penalties, injunctive relief, and its reasonable attorney’s fees and costs in prosecutingany such violations; and
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that should any section or provision of this Ordinance be declared by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such a declaration shall not invalidate any other section or provision.
Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at 207-706-6657; lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com
