INSURE THAT LAND USE REGULATIONS PROTECT THE ISLAND'S NATURAL
ENVIRONMENT.
In general the regulations that govern land development provide
adequate protection for the natural environment. Much of Chebeague's
appeal comes from its natural beauty as an island, but we are
uniquely vulnerable, as well, to environmental problems such as
groundwater pollution. The addition to Cumberland's zoning of
the Shoreland Zone, for example, responds to this concern. So
does the designation of Chebeague as an Aquifer Protection Zone.
However, the Committee's discussions did identify several ways
in which these provisions could be strengthened.
MAINTAIN VISUAL, HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER OF
THE ISLAND AS FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OCCURS.
The way Chebeague looks now is a combination of the semi-rural
character of the Island and the succession of different styles
of houses and other buildings that have been built. Preservation
of the rural character of the Island has been discussed above.
The Island is fairly unique in having the majority of its present
houses and other prominent buildings such as the Church, the Inn,
the old schools and the Hall built before 1940. There are many
fine Victorian and Greek Revival houses, along with a few Federal
ones. Together with the large and small summer cottages from 1890
through the 1920s, these define "the look" of Chebeague.
Most older houses have lasted long enough for people to appreciate
their style. And many have been occupied by several generations
of the same family who value their memories as well as their style.
The problem primarily lies in the future as new houses make up
an increasing part of the stock.
PRESERVE ACCESS TO THE SHORE
Chebeague has 13.15 miles of coastline. Access to the shore
on the Island has always been a very visible issue for everyone.
Fishermen, who often don't live on the shore, obviously have to
reach it to put in and take out their gear and to reach their
boats. Some use the Island's wharves for the former. But many
others take their equipment out over the beach and get to their
boats the same way. Access to the shore is also important for
clamming. Chebeague's clam flats have been managed by the Town
since 1981 and some are now reopening not only for recreational
but even for commercial clamming. In addition, it is important
to keep rocky areas along the shore undisturbed because they are
places where young lobsters hide and molt until they are large
enough to manage in open waters.
Chebeague is also, of course, a "vacation destination",
and who "goes to the shore" and doesn't expect to be
able to go to the beach? Unlike the mainland, Chebeague does have
areas of both rocky coastline and of sandy beaches that all residents
love to use. Access to the water has not been a problem on Chebeague
in the past. And one of the purposes of this plan is to ensure
that, as development pressures grow along the shore, it does not
become a problem. Donna Damon's work since 1989 for Cumberland's
Coastal Access Project has documented the underlying legal history
and rights to many of the roads and paths that give access to
the shore. Some are public, and some are easements granted by
developers or abutters.
PRESERVE CHEBEAGUE'S FIELDS AND FORESTS
In the past Chebeague had both farms and wood lots. Much of
the land was actually cleared; you could see the water from almost
any part of North and South Roads. Today there is one market-garden
farm and some sheep that move around the Island. And there are
still some fields that are kept mowed that give a sense of the
old farming landscape. Since the 1930s, the rest of the Island
has grown up in dense woods except where people have kept their
house lots cleared, so there is still a lot of undeveloped land,
much of it forested.
There are two State current use programs that tax
land at less than its full value for development. One is the Tree
Growth program. Some land on Chebeague is in the Tree Growth program.
Land may be placed in this program if a parcel is larger than
ten acres and is used for commercial (not personal) timber harvesting.
Once the land is enrolled, it is taxed at its value as commercial
forest land and must be managed and harvested as laid out in a
Management Plan. The difficulty with this on CI; there is little
interest in selective harvesting, which would maintain the forest
but allow it to be commercially harvested.
An alternative to the Tree Growth program is the State's Open
Space program. The amount of the property tax reduction here varies
from 20 percent for ordinary, private, unprotected open space
land, to 50 percent for land permanently protected by a conservation
easement, up to 95 percent if it is kept forever wild by conservation
easement and is accessible to the public. There is no minimum
lot size for the program. If the land is taken out of the program
a penalty must be paid. The factors that the state takes into
account when they decide public benefit gained by preserving a
particular piece of land include:
To encourage use of the Open Space program a community should
have a plan indicating land that is intended to be kept in open
space. On Chebeague, because of the closeness of the shore and
the undeveloped woods and fields, virtually any undeveloped land
would be suitable for open space. However it would be useful to
develop criteria, based at least in part of the State factors,
for what land would be most suitable.
PRESERVE ACCESS TO ESTABLISHED PATHS ON THE ISLAND
Chebeague has lots of paths. In the past, people often had to
get around the Island on foot, and many people still do. The Cumberland
Mainland and Islands Trust is working on gaining formal easements
to traditional paths. They are now in the process of mapping the
trails so protected. Many of the paths pass through wooded parts
of the Island that might be protected by the Open Space program.
PRESERVE SCENIC AREAS AND VIEWS
What is a scenic area? It provides a special view that members
of the public can enjoy without necessarily owning or even having
access to it. Often these are places that are seen from the road
as people walk or drive on day to day trips. A scenic area can
be either a natural feature -- a view of the ocean, for example
-- or something manmade, such as a stone wall with mature shade
trees along a road. When you want to view the sunset, or watch
the waves crash on the shore or view the fall color, where do
you go? Here we have mapped some candidates for this kind distinction:
As the Land Use section indicated, we would like to have included
an inventory of historic buildings and other cultural resources.
A Town survey of these was done in May 2000, too late to be included
here. Some additional elements that contribute to such an inventory
already exist such as a collection of past photographs of all
houses which is currently being repeated,
SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES FOR RECREATION AND INTELLECTUAL ENRICHMENT
Chebeague doesn't have "public parks" in the urban
sense, but we do have many of the kinds of recreation facilities
that are commonly found in city parks. What is different on Chebeague
is that they are typically not grouped together the way they might
be in a public park, and they often aren't publicly provided.
Some are provided by individuals such as Sanford's skating pond
or the picnic tables at the Store, some are provided by clubs
such as the Golf and Tennis Clubs, some are provided by community
supported voluntary organizations such as the Library and the
Recreation Center, and some have just to be used where they naturally
are, like swimming at the beach.
Chebeague does have a significant recreation "complex"
in the recently expanded and improved School/Recreation Center
that has outdoor play areas, swimming, tennis, basketball and
baseball, as well as all the year-round recreation facilities
of the Rec Center. The Town provides funds for staff to the Rec
Center, MSAD 51 provides the land, and local donors brought into
existence the Recreation Center building and the Rec as an institution.
The Town owns a 10 acre parcel of land at Chandler Cove Beach
that most residents probably think of as a park. It has an access
road and some rather informal parking. It's deed requires that
it be kept in its natural state. It is used for the community
picnic on the Fourth of July and by swimmers, picnickers and party-goers.
Other Town-owned parcels at Sunset Landing and Waldo Point might
be thought of as parks, but probably are not by most people.
III A: Preserving Community: Economic and Social Life
There are two major threads to Chebeague's strategy
to maintain the essential character of the Island. One, discussed
in the previous sections, is to preserve its semi-rural character,
with extended open space and access to the shore. The other, discussed
in the section to come, is to maintain the social and economic
structure of the Island that combines a year-round working community
and a summer population of people who come year after year.
The two threads are tightly intertwined. Maintaining the physical
character of the Island without its social structure keeps the
shell without the spirit. Maintaining the economic and social
structure while the undeveloped land on the Island is developed,
will be difficult.
Here this plans focus is on the Island's economy, and on
a variety of public and voluntary services, such as health care
and education, that are essential elements of a year-round community.
Recommendations will made about ways to improve Chebeague's quality
of life. However they all assume that the Chebeague community
as we know it -- a working year-round economy augmented by additional
residents in the summer -- will continue to function over the
long run. Here we need to explore ways that this can be assured.
If the recommendations in the Land Use and Open Space sections
to preserve significant areas of open space are adopted and carried
out, it will be necessary to put as much effort, energy and money
into maintaining Chebeague's diverse economic, social and age
structures as well. The effect of preserving land would be to
reduce the supply of land available for development. As long as
there is a strong market for land on Chebeague -- people who want
to buy and build, and who have plenty of money to do so -- then
the value or price of the remaining land will rise significantly.
Indeed, the act of protecting at least some of Chebeague as present
residents know it, would make it all the more attractive to people
who want to live on an unconnected rural island. The rise in the
selling price of land will drive up assessments and taxes, making
Chebeague less affordable to year-round and summer people which
ordinary "working or middle class" incomes, much less
those on fixed retirement incomes. Preserving the island community
is primarily an issue of capping the islands property taxes.
John Cole founder the Maine Times, puts the issue well.
Quoting from a recent column by John in the Forecaster:
As accelerating demand for coastal property continues to
gather even more momentum, taxes on that land increases with skyrocketing
market values. The relatively benign property taxes of the past
becomes a potent force for social engineering, strong enough to
replace one group of Maine residents with another. Hundreds of
traditional fishing communities from Kittery to Machias, coastal
towns that have been home to the same fishing families for five
or more generations, are facing or soon will, inevitable property
tax increases that will force most of them from their family land.
In this section a number of ideas are cobbled together
in an effort to control rising property assessments and taxes.
Several other sections in Part III characterize the Islands
economy and lay out a specific set of recommendations as to how
it may be preserved. Others are concerned with the provision of
various services on the Island.
III B: THE ISLAND ECONOMY - SHORE BASED
CI is one of a handful a Maine islands that maintains a viable
year round economy and thus a diverse year round population. An
understanding of the Island's year round economy is essential
to planning for the future of the island since maintaining a viable
year-round economy is essential to the future of the island.
CHEBEAGUE MUST MAINTAIN A DIVERSIFIED, HEALTHY, YEAR-ROUND
ECONOMY THAT INCLUDES PEOPLE WHO MAKE THEIR LIVING ON AND AROUND
THE ISLAND, COMMUTERS TO THE MAINLAND AND RETIREES
Unlike most mainland residents of Cumberland, islanders often
depend on a number of sources of income. While some Chebeaguers
have full-time, nine-to-five jobs on the Island or the mainland,
many island households rely on doing a number of things to generate
the family income. The ability to develop a number of sources
of income is an essential element of the island economy.
Components of the Island Economy
Chebeagues 's economy - or the source of the livelihood
of the year round residents - consists of four general or groups:
The Fishing/Marine Component (Treated separately below) - Of the
year-round population, approximately 52 people earn some or all
of their income from fishing or marine related activities such
as the boatyard, boat building, CTC, etc. About 15% of the year-round
households derive all or most of their income from fishing or
marine related businesses. An additional 15% of year round households
get a majority of their income from fishing and marine activities.
The Commuter Component - Almost 50 island residents commute to
the mainland for work on a regular basis. Almost 20% of island
households rely on commuting as the principal source of household
income, while another 8% have some income from commuting.
Island Business Component - Over 80 island residents work at some
type of activity on the island. About 20% of year round households
derive all or most of their income from on-island work other than
marine related activities, while another 20% of households received
some of their income from involvement in on-island business activities.
A substantial portion of these on-island businesses involve providing
services to both year-round and seasonal residents.
It is very difficult to know how many summer visitors there are
who contribute to Chebeague's economy. There are an estimated
215 "regular" summer households. In the survey, 37%
of the respondents who were summer people came for long summers,
usually May to October and so would be a stable source of demand.
The other 63% percent were short summer people, adding less. Beyond
these "residents" who were surveyed, there are their
family members and guests, people who rent cottages for a week
or a month, people who come to stay at the Inn and at B&Bs,
and people who come for weddings at the Inn or day trips on the
CTC and the Casco Bay Lines. A 1990 "census" on the
Fourth of July found about 1700 people on the Island on that day.
This may represent about the maximum number on the Island at any
given time.
Retired Component - Over 25% of the island's year round households
are retired. An additional 5% of households can be considered
to be partially or semi-retired households.
Most of the islands businesses are small, with only a few
employing any significant number of workers. Many business activities
involved self-employed people fishing or providing services. Many
of the businesses fall into the category of home occupations or
what we will call here "residential businesses". Part
of Chebeague's economy is independent of people who live on or
come to the Island. Fishermen (and women) sell most of their catch
on the mainland, and a few other businesses supply outside markets
as well. Commuters are limited in jobs only by the distance they
are willing to travel. But other Island businesses must be able
to make at least part of a living from the limited local market
of year round and summer people. The struggles of the Chebeague
Inn to keep going, and the brief existence of the Nellie G. Cafe
are examples of the limits of this market. This situation protects
Chebeague from "commercialization" that some residents
worry about, but also leaves us without businesses and services
we might wish to have.
Because of the existence of relatively frequent and convenient
ferry service, businesses serving the island market that have
to compete directly with comparable mainland ones are at a particular
disadvantage. This kind of competition from the mainland can be
found even in construction, which has always been a staple of
Chebeague's local economy. On the other hand, suppliers of thing
that are difficult to get from the mainland such as island car
repairs, gasoline or heating oil are clearly more viable as long
as the minimum market it large enough.
Maintaining a year-round population is dependent on maintaining
a viable year-round economy that allows residents of the island
to earn reasonable incomes. Fishing issues are discussed in a
separately. However, there are a number of issues related to the
islands ability to maintain a viable year-round, non-maritime
economy raised by Island business people. Cumberland's zoning
regulations sometimes make it difficult for residents to operate
small, home based businesses that can be an important source of
income for some households. Some revisions would help the Island
businesses. The zoning reviews that new businesses face seem elaborate
to them. In addition, since most businesses are in or next to
peopless houses, the standard separation of business and
residential uses that works on the mainland do not quite fit the
circumstances on Chebeague. Finally, there are some land use presently
allowed that the committee thought should not be permitted.
III B: Island Economy - Fishing
As the survey of Island business above indicated, marine related
activities make up the largest portion of Chebeague's economy,
and there is strong support for maintaining the fishery on the
Island. Fishing, primarily lobstering, is its main element. There
are 38 boats hauling approximately 35,000 traps, making this the
largest island fishing community in Casco Bay. Additional marine
related services include boat-building and repair, the boatyard
and all the functions of the CTC. Since CTC is dealt with in the
section on Mainland Transportation, this section primarily focuses
on the fishing industry.
Water Access
Easy access to the water is a primary factor in making the island
work well for the fishermen. Legally, fishermen have access to
the shore across private property to fish or clam. However, this
legal right is not as useful as it appears on its face for several
reasons. One is simply that property owners may not be aware of
this and may object to having their land crossed. The other is
that this legal right provides no right to park on private property.
Over the past 40 or more years, the traditional fish houses on
the shore have been replaced by the use of pickup trucks. Gear
is kept at home, which is usually not on the shore, and taken
to the shore when needed. This, obviously, requires places to
park. This only exists on private land by arrangement with the
owner. Most of the public access points which date from the days
before cars, have little parking. However, they are even more
important than in earlier years because they do provide road access
and at least some parking. There are also people who use shore
access points with parking to keep boats that they use to get
back and forth to the mainland. Some, but not all are Chebeague
fishermen. Some are people who come out from the mainland to work
on the Island.
There are at least nine access and mooring sites that are used
by most of the fishermen as well as others. Several others could
be used but are not at present. Access to Chandler's Cove is by
a State ferry wharf. There is some public parking and limited
area for storing gear. Coleman Cove has no wharf but has parking
and some storage. At Jenks Landing there is a public right of
way and parking can be leased from a neighbor. At Waldo Point,
the access is owned by the Town. Central Landing has two public
rights of way granted by the Mayers and Gilmartins, but the area
for parking and storage of gear is minimal. The Stone Wharf has
storage space and public parking. Some people keep their boats
there, and more use it for putting off their traps in the Spring
and bringing them in in the Fall. Coleman and Johnson Coves and
Central Landing are considered the best sites by the lobstermen
as they are closest to the prime areas for setting traps. Some
fishermen have access to the shore across their own property.
This indicates that access to the shore in general is a concern.
A new wharf will be built by the State at Chandler's Cove, scheduled
for 2000. The design will:
At the Stone Wharf the system of closing off eight of the parking
spaces during June and November so that fishermen can take their
traps off and bring them in seems to work fairly well. The need
for parking results from fishermen transporting their traps from
their trucks to their boats. At other times of year, the only
parking need by the fishermen is for those who keep their boats
in the Stone Wharf anchorage.
At a meeting with the fishermen, the need for a new wharf, specifically
to accommodate fishing activities, was discussed. Sunset Landing
was one obvious site. However, the fishermen recognized the large
cost involved in building a wharf. They think that a new facility
is not needed, as long as present access sites are legally documented
and properly maintained. Also essential to the present system
of fishing is being able to keep boats, traps and other gear in
outdoor storage at fishermen's houses.
Moorings
The presence of a harbormaster and a mooring permit system provides
a legal framework for defining and protecting mooring rights in
case of legal challenge. However, the system does not work well.
We think that the Town simply collects the permit fee but does
not record the location of moorings. There have been problems
with other people putting moorings where fishermen have traditionally
moored their boats. This is a particular problem at the Stone
Wharf. Enforcement is also an issue. The Inn has moorings, but
also apparently tells their visitors to moor to any buoy available.
The fishermen were skeptical that the kind of mooring registration
law used in Freeport would be useful because of its complexity.
However, they would like to limit moorings to residents and property
owners of the Town of Cumberland.
Aquaculture Leases
The leasing of the bottom to aquaculturists growing mussels
is a recent development in Casco Bay. Mussel grow-out rafts, which
require deep water and strong tidal flushing could be practical
at almost any protected cove or area near the Island, though this
does depend on the season and weather conditions as well. The
Chebeague fishermen are concerned about the impact of this new
fishery on their access to places where they have set their traps
in the past. The survey suggests that this is not a widely understood
or recognized issue among Islanders who are not lobstermen.
Currently, regulatory authority for aquaculture lease applications
rests with the State Department of Marine Resources. In towns
where there are existing shellfish ordinances, recent legislation
allows the town to govern aquaculture leases throughout the intertidal
zone. The DMR continues to govern aquaculture leases in the sub-tidal
zone, below low water. However, the town is granted intervener's
status, contingent upon their existing shell fishing ordinances.
This status assures the town of proper notification when lease
applications are filed, and gives the town a strong voice during
the public hearing process.
Other Fishing Issues
There are a variety of other issues related to the success of
the fishing relating to the Town. These are fairly self-explanatory
in the recommendations.
Positive notes:
III F: Chebeague Schools
These recommendations to S. A. D. 51, the Town of Cumberland
and the Chebeague community rest on the assumption that high quality
educational opportunities are essential to the future of the Island.
Attracting and keeping young families is crucial to maintaining
a diverse, year round economy and community on the Island. We
seek to sustain the strengths in the present school situation
and remedy the deficiencies. Therefore, the goal of this section
is to
MAINTAIN A QUALITY EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE
FOR STUDENTS FROM PRESCHOOL THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL
Schooling on Chebeague
In one dimension the history of schools on CI is a story of
decline and loss. From the late nineteenth century to the present
enrollment in Chebeague schools dropped from the largest in the
town of Cumberland (larger even than all of the towns mainland
schools put together) to the smallest in the town. In the years
since World War II, the Island lost its high school, then the
junior high, so that now the Island School provides only kindergarten
and six grades of multi grade elementary education with two teachers.
Since the higher level schools closed, Chebeague children have
commuted by boat and bus to mainland schools from seventh grade
through high school. And some Chebeague families are sending children
across the water to elementary grades on the mainland, or schooling
them at home. These facts suggest that the surviving CI School
may be in jeopardy.
Yet the CI School draws praise from parents, teachers and administrators
in School Administrative District 51. The Island Schools
proponents cite the quality of education that a favorable teacher/student
ratio (superior to any other school in the district) and effective
multi age teaching make possible. On the other hand, the advantages
of the CI School are also the sources of its limitations. Smallness
may bring educational shortcomings as well. In any given year,
particular grades in our K-6 program may have no students or only
a single student enrolled or an imbalance of genders.2 And in the later years (grades 4-6),
when sequential learning of certain subjects such as mathematics
becomes more important, it may be difficult to provide for each
student particular courses in the order he or she needs.
Chebeague children with special needs schooled on the Island may
be less well served, in a less timely way, than their counterparts
on the mainland. While the system does provide these services,
the circumstances of island living and transportation make it
harder to deliver services these children need. Island teachers
and parents must be more aggressive than mainlanders in assessment
of students needs and insistence that special education
staff come to the students rather than transporting the children
to the service provider. Services for challenged or gifted students
are available within SAD 51s excellent system, but delivery
of them to Chebeaguers can be problematic.
The success of the Chebeague School depends even more heavily
than in other school situations on who is teaching and on persistent
involvement by parents in their childrens educations. When
good veteran teachers, experienced in multi age classes, familiar
with the structure, resources and decision-making processes of
SAD 51 and positive toward Chebeagues distinctive community
and way of life, teach in the Island School, things go well. Openness
to the Island and to parental concerns is a requirement for Chebeague
teachers to succeed in educating our children. Similarly, the
Island School is at its best when parents take a sustained interest
in the experiences and education of their children and communicate
regularly with their teachers. Since the Island enjoys a population
diverse in background, but joined by allegiance to a shared way
of life, any problems related to diversity among students within
the school may be resolved by communication and cooperation among
parents and teachers.
Schooling off Chebeague
When Chebeague children commute to mainland schools, they face
the challenge of joining a separate and larger community of students.
By all reports from Cumberland school officials, academic integration
is not a problem for commuting Chebeaguers. Well prepared, except
perhaps
for some children with special needs, island children move readily
into their classes on the mainland, exhibiting the same diversity
as their mainland counterparts. But the Chebeaguers encounter
an already established social structure, which they may find difficult
to enter, especially because of transportation schedules. The
present arrangements for transport the Chebeague Transportation
Companys ferryboats and the school busses impede
Chebeague childrens participation in weekday evening and
weekend activities unless parents make special efforts to include
them in sports and other extracurricular activities. These efforts
are virtually impossible for families where both parents work
full-time. Even then, the present CTC ferry schedule keeps both
students and parents from full participation in week night evening
events, unless they stay overnight on the mainland. The commuting
routine, with normal departure from school by bus to the ferry
as soon as the school day ends, is presently supplemented by a
late afternoon bus that enables Chebeague children to take part
in after school activities and return home in time for supper.
We were surprised to discover that there is no emergency plan
in case normal transportation between the mainland schools and
the Island is disrupted by severe weather or mechanical breakdown.
If Chebeague children were stranded on the mainland, the school
authorities would need to improvise arrangements for their care
until transportation was restored.
Distance and transportation are the principal obstacles to the
integration of Chebeague children into the Cumberland schools.
These factors also may be barriers to appreciation of the island
way of life by mainland families and their school children, most
of whom know little about Chebeague. There is evidence that ignorance
fosters in some mainlanders prejudiced toward Chebeague as remote
and inaccessible, isolated and backward, with little to offer
the more rapidly growing, seemingly more cosmopolitan and increasingly
suburban coastal town. Such attitudes suggest that Chebeague children
may be stereotyped as different, out of the mainstream, needing
less education, likely to lead insular lives on the island they
come from. However, not everyone agrees that this problem exists
or that it is useful to raise it.
Preparation for Jobs, Careers and Further Education
In the high school years, the course of study prepares students
for post-secondary education, vocational, technical or collegiate.
Our inquiries left some doubt as to whether Chebeague students
are encouraged to view high school as a stepping stone to further
education or training that would enhance their success or enlarge
their opportunities in jobs or careers. There is some evidence
that when Chebeague families deal with mainland school teachers
or counselors they are less assertive than more suburban mainlanders.
In some cases, it may be assumed by the mainland school or the
island family that the student will take up a traditional island
occupation for which schooling beyond high school is irrelevant
and unnecessary. But it is not clear that all Chebeague students
and their families have the opportunity to understand and consider
pursuing the benefits of further education The resources for assisting
all Chebeague families with educational choices for their sons
and daughters are available in the Cumberland schools, but the
use of these resources appears to be uneven.
CIs Contribution to School Funding
It is not well understood that the magnitude of the Islands
financial contribution to SAD 51 is substantial. The district
has kindly enabled us to develop these figures by providing per
pupil costs for 1996. This 17 page analysis of all costs shows
that the per pupil cost for Chebeague in 1996 was $9,413. There
were 42 students enrolled in that year. For comparison, the per
pupil cost for mainland schools was $6,328. On might initially
conclude that educating Chebeague children is more expensive,
with the district paying out an additional an additional $3,085
per pupil for that purpose, and that the Island enjoys a premium
in educational benefits.
But if we examine the Islands contribution to school tax
revenues in relation to expenditures for the schooling of Islanders
in 1996, we reach a different conclusion. Expenditures for education
and libraries in the Town of Cumberland for that year were $5,681,000.
The Islands share of
this, based on percentage of taxes paid, was 12 per cent. Hence
the total contribution by Island taxpayers to SAD 51 was 0.12
x $5,681,000 = $681,720. Since the Island school population was
42, the per pupil tax revenue contributed by Island tax payers
in 1996 was $681,720/42 or $16,231 per student. Comparison of
the 1996 revenue per pupil ($16,231) with the 1996 cost per pupil
($9,413) shows that the Island paid $6,818 over and above the
SAD 51 costs for educating CIs school population. Hence
Chebeague, in a sense, provides surplus revenues to SAD 51.
This imbalance is not well known or understood. The key point:
Chebeague is paying substantially more than its proportional share
for education. It is for this reason that the Island urges SAD
51 to recognize the substantial premium that Chebeague is paying
to the district. It is entirely reasonable, therefore, for the
Island to expect comparable educational resources, services and
facilities to the mainland.
Communication and Representation
At present communication between Chebeague families and the
school district leadership comprises regular meetings on Chebeague
of school authorities with an active parents advisory committee
and occasional meetings on the Island of the SAD # 51 Board of
Directors, on which no Chebeague resident presently sits. While
these occasions for dialogue and identification of problems have
been productive, we found considerable interest in supplementing
them with additional bodies and opportunities for school and community
collaboration.
IV A: TRANSPORTATION TO THE MAINLAND
During most of the 20th century, Chebeague has been served by
two providers of ferry services. In the early 20th century both
Casco Bay Lines and theHarpswell Steam Ship Company served Chebeague.
Since the 1930's, Chebeague has been served with public ferry
service both by Casco Bay Lines from Portland, and an inner-bay
service, first from Portland, then from Falmouth and, since 1959,
from the Cousins Island wharf at Doyle Point on Cousins Island
in Yarmouth.
Today the inner-bay service is based on Chebeague and is operated
by Chebeague Transportation Company. It has become Chebeague's
primary carrier of passengers handling 90% of the passenger volume
with Casco Bay Lines carrying the remaining 10%. CTC operates
8-10 trips per day year-round on vessels licensed to carry 58-119
passengers. Casco Bay Lines provides 4-5 trips per day serving
Chebeague on vessels licensed to carry 300-400 passengers and
is the primary shipper of freight to Chebeague.
Together CTC and CBL provide the "roads" connecting
Chebeague to the mainland highway system. These roads, however,
are narrow lanes and, in the case of the inner-bay service, in
danger of disappearing entirely due to impassioned controversy
surrounding the use of the Cousins Island wharf and Blanchard
parking lot for the past 40 years. The goal of this section is
to:
ASSURE AFFORDABLE AND RELIABLE FERRY TRANSPORTATION CONNECTING
CHEBEAGUE WITH THE MAINLAND TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS BOTH IN PORTLAND
AND ON COUSINS ISLAND.
Passenger Service
Casco Bay Lines ("CBL") operated by Casco Bay Island
Transit District ("CBITD") runs from the Maine State
Pier on the Portland waterfront to Chandler's Cove at the West
End of Chebeague. CBITD was established by the legislature in
1981 upon the bankruptcy of the former private ferry
operator. CBITD is a political subdivision of the State of Maine
encompassing Peaks, Little Diamond, Great Diamond, Long, Chebeague
and Cliff Islands located in the City of Portland and Towns of
Long Island and Cumberland.
Chebeague Transportation Company ("CTC") runs from the
Stone Wharf at the East End of Chebeague to the Yarmouth Town
Wharf at Doyle Point on Cousins Island in Yarmouth. CTC undertook
ferry operations following the retirement of the former sole proprietor
who began operating water taxi services in his lobster boat on
the last leg of the inner-bay route abandoned by CBL after the
completion of the bridge from the mainland to Cousins Island in
1959. CTC's ferry operations are conducted in a business corporation
that was originally capitalized through the purchase of shares
by residents of hebeague and now operates as a common-carrier
on a break-even basis as a public service.
Use of the Cousins Island wharf on Doyle Point at the foot of
Wharf Road on Cousins Island in Yarmouth for the provision of
ferry service is integral to CTC's operations. The wharf has been
used as a ferry landing for at least a century. When the bridge
linking Cousins Island to the mainland ended the need for the
inner-bay ferry service to Cousins and Littlejohn islands, the
Cousins Island wharf changed, from being the arrival point to
Cousins Island, to being the mainland terminus of the last leg
of that inner-bay service which continues to run between Cousins
and Chebeague.
Because of the greater time needed to travel the longer distance
between Portland and Chebeague, and due to the destinations north
of Portland needing access by Chebeaguers, particularly students
and other personnel of the SAD 51 schools, and the Chebeague Rescue
which connects with the Cumberland Rescue, CTC provides about
90% of Chebeague's passenger transportation services. Among its
users are seasonal residents who own and pay taxes on about 300
Chebeague properties. Many of these people have been coming to
Chebeague for generations. The seasonal population provides the
"critical mass" necessary to make a year-round ferry
service economically feasible.
In the mid-1980's, perceived growth in the use of the wharf and
public concern surrounding the scarcity of coastal access, lead
to an agreement between the towns of Yarmouth and Cumberland for
use of the wharf by CTC from 1989 through the end of 1999. This
agreement was intended as a 10 year growth moratorium while the
towns worked to find an alternative site for a permanent ferry
landing location. In addition to limiting the number of daily
ferry landings and the size of ferry vessels to 1989 levels, the
1989 agreement contemplated Yarmouth's adoption of traffic ordinances
restricting use of Wharf Road beyond the entrance to the Blanchard
Lot limiting commercial deliveries to the wharf and prohibiting
access to the wharf-head by private vehicles on weekends from
May through September. These ordinances have come to be called
the "over-the-hill" rules.
Notwithstanding the protections to their community represented
by the10-year agreement and the restricted access accomplished
by the over-the-hill rules, residents of the wharf neighborhood
petitioned for a municipal referendum in November of 1989. If
it had been successful, the referendum would have rejected the
10-year agreement and, in its place, impose confiscatory landing
fees on the ferry service designed to make it unaffordable for
the users and drive it out of business. Wide-spread support among
Yarmouth citizens for Chebeague's need for access to the mainland
via Cousins Island, however, worked to defeat the referendum by
a two-thirds majority in November of 1989.
In the early 1990's Cumberland and Yarmouth worked together to
analyze other possible landing sites and found no alternatives
other than undeveloped land on Spruce Point at the Wyman Power
Station on Cousins Island. At that time, Central Maine Power expressed
interest in a sale of the Spruce Point land if agreement could
be reached between the towns. In 1995 negotiations between the
towns broke down over access restrictions on Cousins Island Road
and Maine's Department of Transportation was asked to assist the
communities to resolve the situation.
In 1996 MDOT empanelled a group of representatives from both communities
known as the Chebeague/Cousins Transportation Resolution Team.
The Resolution Team was charged with the task of making recommendations
to MDOT on a permanent resolution of the controversy by selecting
an alternative site acceptable two both communities. The Spruce
Point site was unanimously identified in 1997 along with a set
of guidelines on its use including a Mainland Access Authority
to manage future growth. After studying this recommendation for
over a year and reviewing all 23 alternative sites considered
by the Resolution Team, MDOT determined both that the Spruce Point
location is not available due to the impossibility of obtaining
necessary environmental permits for construction of the new wharf
in an environmentally sensitive marine habitat, and that no other
practical alternative to the existing Cousins Island wharf exists.
In July of 1998 MDOT announced that the current wharf location
would serve as the permanent mainland access point for the inner-bay
ferry service. MDOT said that they would preserve the status quo
and, with the agreement of both towns, improve the situation.
The first step in maintaining the status quo was MDOT's acquisition
of the Blanchard Lot in October of 1999 (discussed below) and
considerable work has been undertaken to obtain a new agreement
on the use and future maintenance of the Cousins Island wharf
upon the expiration of the 1989 Wharf Agreement at the end of
1999. Negotiation of a long-term agreement including a mainland
access authority with representatives from both towns and MDOT
failed in the fall of 1999.
The 1989 agreement expired without a new agreement in place on
January 1, 2000, but Yarmouth has consistently provided assurances
that access will be maintained. In fact, a 10-year agreement providing
for limited growth acceptable to Cumberland was conditionally
approved by the Yarmouth Town Council in February of 2000. Yarmouth
conditioned its approval, however, on changes to the Blanchard
Lot lease agreement between MDOT and Cumberland. Restrictions
on the Blanchard Lot had not previously been linked to use of
the Cousins Island wharf and have thus far been unacceptable to
MDOT and Cumberland.
Parking and Highway Access
Since neither of Chebeague's ferries is a car ferry, parking,
both on the island and the mainland, is a necessary component
of any island transportation system.
Parking at Chandler's Cove is limited to about 10 cars (although
upon completion of major wharf renovations by MDOT early in 2001
this number may almost double). In Portland's Old Port district
there are various garages and lots at varying distances from the
Casco Bay Ferry Terminal, and the residents of all six islands
compete with city dwellers, commuting office workers, Old Port
shoppers and tourists for them. METRO buses run to the Terminal
which is located at the foot of the Old Port shopping and commercial
district.
The Stone Wharf has approximately 70 parking spaces, but is still
woefully inadequate. Mainland parking areas for CTC's passengers
are located at two sites. The Blanchard lot provides 165 parking
spaces located within walking distance of the wharf on Cousins
Island. A new satellite lot, operated from mid-April through the
New Year's holiday, provides 300 parking spaces accessed by a
6.3 mile shuttle bus ride to a fourteen acre site located on Route
1 near Exit 16 of I-95. The proximity of the satellite lot to
the Cousins Island dock and to the two major north-south arteries
is anticipated to make access comparatively easier than the former
remote lot in Cumberland Center. The land for the Satellite Lot
was given to Cumberland by MDOT and the Town financed the approximate
$200,000 cost of development of the parking facility with a lease
to CTC at its cost.
Access to the wharf head on Cousins Island is both physically
limited by geography and legally restricted by Yarmouth's (so
called) "over the hill" ordinances. The physical limits
of the current road and turn-around area at the wharf-head prevent
shuttle buses from turning around at the wharf head. Consequently
they must back down the hill from the entrance to the Blanchard
Lot sounding back-up warning alarms that disturb the neighborhood.
The over-the-hill access restrictions limit commercial deliveries
to the dock and prohibit private vehicles from driving beyond
the entrance to the Blanchard Lot on weekends during May through
September unless physically handicapped passengers are being dropped
off.
MDOT has offered to work with both towns to improve the road way
and turn-around area in order both to relax the over-the-hill
access restrictions, and to permit the use of smaller shuttle
buses that are expected to turn around at the wharf head after
the road and turn-around are reconstructed. Further, MDOT has
offered to provide 80% of the funding (i.e., $300,000) for acquisition
of the smaller buses as a means of ameliorating neighborhood noise
created by the back-up alarms of the current shuttle buses.
The 20% local share (i.e., $60,000) of the capital cost of these
buses is expected to be provided by Cumberland, but the increased
operating cost of staffing more buses with additional drivers
will be born by users of the ferry service. The cost of design
and construction of improvements to the
road and turn-around, as well as the $600,000 cost of acquisition
of the Blanchard Lot, will be shared by MDOT and the Town of Cumberland
on an 80/20 ratio, respectively. The design budget established
by MDOT is set at $200,000, but the cost of construction is not
yet known.
MDOT's lease of the Blanchard Lot to Cumberland limits parking
for the next 50 years to 165 spaces, including 15 spaces with
priority for Yarmouth residents. Historically it was privately
operated by Robert Blanchard, but for the past 20 years or so
it was leased to CTC under a long-term lease expiring at the end
of 1999. Faced with the expiration of this arrangement, MDOT acquired
the Blanchard Lot in 1999 for a price of $600,000 and has made
it available as part of the public ferry transportation system
operated by CTC through a lease to the Town of Cumberland and
sublease to CTC for $1.00 per year, but this arrangement is currently
being challenged in court by the former owner.
Prior to the current litigation, the competing needs of the Cousins
Island community and users of CTC's ferry service had been the
subject of litigation three times since 1976 resulting in a series
of court ordered consent decrees regulating levels of parking
and barging activities. The capacity of the Blanchard Lot has
been inadequate for many years and operation of shuttle bus services
and remote parking between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends
has historically been the solution proposed by Cousins Island
residents to protect the neighborhood from the burden of summer
traffic. Physical and legal limits on the number of cars that
can park at the Blanchard Lot causes use of the Satellite Lot
to continue long after summer cottages near the Cousins Island
wharf have been closed for the season. Year-round resident needs
for parking have increased to the point that it may become necessary
to ask year-round people to accept spaces in the Satellite lot
and run the shuttle bus service all year at a cost of approximately
$5,000 per month for shuttle bus operations. This need is driven,
not by a significant increase in population on Chebeague, but
by an increase in Island residents seeking access to mainland
employment opportunities and the pressure on island residents
to maintain automobiles on the mainland in order to participate
in an increasingly car-dependent society.
In 1997 MDOT's Chebeague/Cousins Transportation Resolution Team
recommended that parking near the wharf be increased from the
current 165 car limit, to 286 (with provision for further future
expansion) in order to permit shuttle bus operations to cease
after Columbus Day, but this recommendation was predicated on
the development of a new site for wharf and parking facilities
located on land adjacent to the Wyman Power Station on Cousins
Island. MDOT was unable to implement the recommendation due to
permitting difficulties with the site, but the fact remains that
a balanced group of representatives from both communities recognized
an immediate need for additional parking for Chebeaguers near
the wharf.
The harsh fact remains that use of the Satellite Lot and costly
shuttle bus operations, originally intended for summer residents,
can now be suspended only from early January to mid-April. Now
that MDOT has determined that the site for mainland access for
Chebeague will permanently remain at the Cousins Island Wharf,
the need for more parking near the Wharf must be addressed in
the future.
Barging and Freight
Transportation of vehicles of all kinds is critical to the functioning
of an Island community. CTC's 100-ton barge predominantly transports
private autos and small to medium sized trucks on a tide-dependent
schedule between the beach at the Blanchard Lot and a vehicle
ramp on the Stone Wharf. CTC's barge operations are legally restricted
to operate only between 7:00 AM and 5:00 PM Tuesdays through Thursdays.
In 1997 CTC's barge carried 519 vehicles.
Other barge operations in Casco Bay include Lionel Plante Associates
and Intercoastal Marine, operating principally from Portland's
east end beach. These companies each have two barges with larger
carrying capacities than CTC's. These barges generally land on
the beach at Bennett's Cove on the West End of Chebeague due to
its proximity to Portland. They are not allowed to land on Cousins
Island.
CBL carries the United States Mail, UPS, and Fed Ex, as well as
commercially shipped groceries, appliances, and other large household
items on its passenger vessels (one of which is equipped with
a crane for transferring freight). Also one or two cars can be
carried on the Maquoit II.
CTC handles smaller items, including groceries and supplies--
most of them hand-carried by the passengers -- on its passenger
vessel.
1 Planning Decisions, Inc. 2000. Analysis of the Fiscal Impacts on Low and Moderate Income Households: Town of Cumberland. Part of the Residential Fiscal Impact Project.
2 In 200-2001 it is anticipated total enrollment will be 26, but there will be no students in the 4th grade.
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