By Jodi Hausen,Staff Writer

WILTON – It appears an ordinance virtually banning overnight use of houseboats on Wilson Lake is the first of its kind in the state.

According to Wynn Muller, president of Friends of Wilson Lake, it took more than three years and many volunteers’ contacting more than 200 residents to get approval of the ordinance at town meeting last week. A similar but much broader article failed to gain acceptance by seven votes at last year’s town meeting. Many people who attended the town meeting this year had never been to one previously and were there solely to vote on this issue, Muller said last week.

Last year the group attempted to restrict boat launch use, but the ordinance was too indirect, he said.

“We took the next step and asked, How can we make this work?” he said.

The new ordinance, designed to protect water quality on the lake, requires any live-aboard boat, defined as having a kitchen, toilet and sleeping quarters, to be “secured overnight to commercial facility capable of dealing with waste and fueling.” However no such facility currently exists on Wilson Lake.

The town cannot outright ban houseboats from the 563-acre lake – state law provides for public access to all ponds greater than 10 acres. And although the ordinance does not ban live-aboard boats on the lake, in essence it prohibits people from spending the night on them.

Jim Stahlnecker, a biologist for Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection, said he was not familiar with any other municipality with a similar ordinance, though there are controls on lakes that are drinking water supplies like Sebago, Auburn and China Lakes.

George Powell, the Department of Conservation’s director of state-owned public boat launch facilities, said he was not familiar with Wilton’s ordinance but had not heard of anything similar in another Maine town.

Members of Friends of Wilson Lake are also concerned with preventing the appearance of invasive plants, such as variable-leaf milfoil, in the lake.

According to Maggie Shannon, executive director of the Maine Congress of Lake Associations, they have every reason to be concerned.

It is virtually impossible to use the public boat launch at Messalonskee Lake in nearby Belgrade without encountering milfoil, she said. The launch there is gated unless a representative from the DEP is present to inspect boats going in or coming out of the lake.

“For all who enjoy Maine lakes and for lake advocates, it’s important for all of us to realize we must all work together toward the goal of protecting these resources and they are fragile. They are very fragile,” she said.