AUGUSTA (AP) – With Wednesday’s cold, blustery winds and a new layer of snow, fishing and boating season seemed a long way off. But it was very much on the minds of several Brunswick-area residents who came to the capital to drop off petitions supporting plans for a coastal boat ramp.

The project near the end of the pencil-shaped Mere Point peninsula, which spears Casco Bay from the south side of Brunswick, has cost the state $700,000 so far. But it still awaits regulatory hearings and permits as nearby property owners stand in opposition.

Supporters say the project pits shorefront landowners who in many cases have their own boat moorings against recreational fishermen and boaters from Brunswick and surrounding towns who lack sufficient public access to Casco Bay.

“This is to show you folks that there’s a lot of public support for this project,” Charlie Wallace, leader of a group called Share the Bay, said as he delivered the petitions in a small wooden treasure chest at Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department offices.

IFW Commissioner Roland “Danny” Martin said the project, which includes two ramps usable in all tides, is important to the department and to Gov. John Baldacci. Martin said the administration considers it important to set aside public access land now for future generations, before it becomes too expensive.

“It’s important that we do the right things now,” said Martin.

The Mere Point site was purchased in 2002 with help from the Land for Maine’s Future program, which has been funded with state bond issues.

The state expects to spend another $300,000 to $400,000 to complete the project, most of it with federal Sportfish Restoration funds.

IFW officials say State Planning Office studies point to a need for additional public boat launching facilities in the Casco Bay area of southern Maine, which has a large share of the state’s population.

But opponents say the present size of the project – which includes parking for 57 boats and trailers – and its location are their primary objections.

Bob Zockoff of Concerned Citizens said the project’s backers try to project an image of wealthy landowners charged with “not-in-my-backyard” sentiments, but said that’s just a ploy to polarize area residents.

Zockoff said placing a facility of the size, designed primarily for larger boats, would bring too much traffic to a quiet neighborhood. His group says it would draw more than 500 cars and boats per day on narrow Mere Point Road.

The paving required for the project would exceed standards for a coastal area, the group says, and numerous other spots for the site are available and have been overlooked.

“That’s really the issue to Concerned Citizens – the size of this project,” said Zockoff.

He claimed the state is locked into the size because of the standards set by the federal government in issuing grants. Asked if the opponents could settle for a smaller launching facility, he said, “I think people would find it much more acceptable.”

But Zockoff said his group will oppose the present plan when it’s aired before the Board of Environmental Protection and “every step of the process.”

A group called Friends of Mere Point also opposes the project as it’s now proposed, but would go along with a smaller one designed for multiple uses at the same site, said the group’s Bob Healing.

Boat access projects in other parts of the state have become highly divisive. A state Conservation Department plan to expand parking at a site known as John’s Bridge along the Allagash Wilderness Waterway turned sporting groups against environmental groups with opposing views on how the waterway should be managed.

A compromise was finally negotiated in the John’s Bridge dispute.

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On the Net:

Concerned Citizens for the Bay Environment: http://ccbe.home.comcast.net/wsb/html/view.cgi-home.html-.html

AP-ES-03-09-05 1728EST

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