The owner of Yorktown Recreation says critics don’t understand nudists.

ALBION (AP) – Strictly speaking, Yorktown Recreation is not a nudist resort – its owners bill it as “clothing optional” – but some neighbors in the small farming community of Albion see it as cause for alarm.

The resort, which opened in May, is located on a secluded pond on a remote dirt road past the 70 cows on Tony and Claudia Takacs’ 400-acre dairy farm.

The Takacs plan to add a recreation building complete with a heated swimming pool, saunas, a hot tub, showers, baths and space for meetings and activities. They also plan to build several cabins to augment tent sites.

Tony Takacs, 57, said his resort provides a place for people who like to socialize with others who enjoy a nude lifestyle. He described it as a reputable business with high standards and strict rules.

“We are not selling sex,” he said. “We are not promoting sex. We aren’t doing anything with sex.”

About two dozen critics of the resort expressed concerns to Albion selectmen at a recent meeting.

“There were a lot of good issues raised,” Town Clerk Amanda Dow said, “and there were some concerns, raised by people who live near (the resort) or who live on the road leading to the resort, about the type of people this is attracting. It is just a situation where people are afraid of one bad apple coming through town.”

One neighbor, Barbara Kimball, drafted a petition opposing the resort.

Kimball said she and many others who live on roads leading to Yorktown feel threatened by a place that provides a venue for the nude lifestyle.

“I feel it is going to bring down the property value of my house,” she said. “If I had known about a clothing-optional facility going in there, I would not have bought my house, and I really don’t feel safe walking or riding my bike there.”

“Albion is a nice agricultural community,” she added, “and I’d hate to see it be tagged as the clothing-optional capital of Maine.”

Tony Takacs said he expected some people would be offended by his venture, but he said those offended are misinformed.

“I certainly don’t want to alienate the town or do anything illegal,” he said. “This is not the purpose of this.”

The purpose, he said, is to run a successful business, and one a little less taxing than farming, which he has done for the last 17 years.

The American Association for Nude Recreation, based in Kissimmee, Fla., said its membership has increased 76 percent in the last 10 years. More than 50,000 people now belong to the association, which boasts 253 affiliated clubs, resorts, bed and breakfasts, and recreational vehicle campgrounds.

“It is a lifestyle,” said Renda Carter, an association spokeswoman. “A lot of people in the privacy of their own walls like to go around nude. They just prefer the feeling of no clothing to clothing.”

Carter said Yorktown Recreation, which has applied for membership, would rank as her organization’s first nude resort in Maine.

The Takacs said New England in general has few clothing-optional resorts. They said they know of two in Massachusetts and one in both Vermont and New Hampshire.

Eric and Debbie Soderberg of Bangor, who described themselves as frequent visitors to nude resorts, spent a week at Yorktown Recreation.

Eric Soderberg, 55, said much of the resistance to the nude lifestyle comes down to cultural norms. In many European countries, he said, there is widespread acceptance.

To some extent, comfort with nudity is about learning to be comfortable about yourself, he said.

“I think a lot of people are not confident enough about themselves to express themselves to others,” he said.

Debbie Soderberg, 47, said she was uncomfortable at first.

But the Soderbergs said they came to learn that people tend to shed the games and deceits of society when they take their clothes off.

When you are naked, they said, a person puts away societal roles and exposes his or her true self.

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