POLAND – Town planners just wanted to go on a fishing expedition, but about 50 property owners packed the Municipal Office on Tuesday night and told them to cut bait.

Property owners wanted no part of a proposal to put about 8,000 acres into a conservation district that would prohibit development.

The Planning Board put forth the idea to receive public input and received a clear message that townspeople opposed any further restrictions on their property.

“After all of the hoops that I’ve been through in this town, I am offended that I won’t be allowed to leave my land for my three kids to build on some day,” said Don Ferry. “Let’s just end this survey right now and allow people to go on with their lives the way that they see fit.”

However, Planning Board members pointed out the contradictions inherent in a town like Poland.

The proposal came about because residents two years ago cited the rural nature of the town as its main asset.

However, increasing development has put a heavy burden on the town’s finances and ability to provide services, Planner Susan Ellis said.

“There’s nothing even drawn up at this point,” said Chairman Carl Duchette. “No one is trying to take anything away. We’re just going on a fishing expedition right now.”

Planner Larry Moreau, who also serves on the town’s budget committee, noted that removing property from established development zoning would require tax breaks to property owners and would reduce the town’s revenue.

“We just can’t win,” said Planner Charles Finger. “We can’t afford to build, and we can’t afford not to.”

Fred Huntress, the town’s forester and drafter of the proposal, warned that continued development would mean the end of Poland as anyone knows it today.

“When I came here 40 years ago, there were about 1,500 people here,” said Huntress. “Now there are more than 5,000. There’s a heck of a lot of rural land that’s been chopped up. Pretty soon, there won’t be a town left anymore.”

The point driven repeatedly by the majority of people Tuesday night was their view of the proposal as a foothold for more town control of private property.

“We’re already beat to death in this town with all of the rules and regulations,” said Garry Thurlow. “This is just another stepping stone for you to control our land. We just want to be left alone.”

The packed house was due in part to a letter circulated by Poland property owner Douglas Boyce. The letter cited reasons why Boyce opposed the proposal and urged all affected owners to attend Tuesday’s meeting.

“Being on a planning board, myself, I have a sense of how regulations develop,” said Boyce, of Gorham, outside the Municipal Office. “It’s these very early stages that are the best time for the public to make their voices heard.”

An earlier item before the board Tuesday illustrated the conflict between long-time property owners and new residents trying to build. Eunice Bartlett, whose family has owned untold acres for generations, attended the meeting because a single house application from a new homeowner could mean power and telephone poles across her property without her permission. Bartlett said she wanted to hear more about the conservation zoning.

Bartlett reminded the crowd that the proposal provided a voluntary option for allowing property to be zoned as conservation land. But others countered that voluntary zoning across inconsistent parcels may be unworkable and even illegal.

“I don’t know if I would have agreed with the idea,” said Bartlett after the meeting, “but I did want to hear more about it.”