WINTHROP — A new ordinance enacted by the town and going into effect next month will regulate moorings and crafts near the shoreline of town waters, requiring ownership of lakefront property to set anchor.

The measure, unanimously approved by the Town Council on Monday and set to take effect on April 7, aims to coincide with around the time that ice may melt from local waters, according to Town Manager Jeff Kobrock.

Notably, there are a number of mooring balls currently in the landmark Norcross Point area of Maranacook Lake that would likely be considered illegal, Kobrock said. While some of the 20 or so moorings at Norcross Point, which is beside a public park and beach, might have been placed by someone who owns a nearby residential lakefront lot, it’s unlikely most are, he said.

“It’s not just there, but that happens to be the most obvious place because it’s right downtown,” Kobrock said of the moorings at Norcross Point. “Essentially, this ordinance says any mooring needs to be associated with a lakefront lot. You can’t just place a mooring in the lake anywhere for your use.”

The ordinance would regulate any moorings, which secure a watercraft or float plane, within 200 feet of the shoreline in a great pond, defined as any inland bodies of water in a natural state with a surface area greater than 10 acres, or any artificially formed bodies of water with a surface area greater than 30 acres. Among the rules is that only one mooring is allowed in the water “per 50 feet of residential shoreline,” while allowable moorings are those associated with “an existing residential shorefront lot” or other licensed businesses along the shoreline such as campgrounds or hotels.

The new town rules align with regulations set by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Among these bodies of water is Cobbossee Lake, which lake officials recently identified as having an infestation of Eurasian watermilfoil, an invasive plant with the potential to spread rapidly and devastate aquatic animal and plant life.

In an effort to combat this invasive plant, the five towns surrounding the lake (Litchfield, Manchester, Monmouth, West Gardiner, and Winthrop) have began meeting with the CYC Lake Association and Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed in order to discuss their options moving forward.

Winthrop Town Council Chairperson Sarah Fuller said Monday that they delayed passing the ordinance several months ago in an effort to stay consistent with any ordinances that may be collectively agreed upon with the towns surrounding Lake Cobbossee. In addition, public hearings on the Winthrop mooring ordinance were also held in the fall.

“But, given that the ice is going to be out in the near future, we wanted to have something on the books before those other measures get finalized,” she said, “in whatever form they may take.”

Kobrock said the town didn’t want to wait until the middle of summer to enact the rules and is instead taking the next month to educate the public as ice-out approaches on the town’s waters.

Meanwhile, the town will need to appoint a mooring officer — similar to a code enforcement officer — who would be charged with investigating any cases of moorings violating the municipal ordinance. Potential fines, according to what’s allowed under state law, could range from $500 to $5,000 a day, said Kobrock, who noted those are “relatively scary numbers.”

“We don’t expect to really encounter any of that kind of resistance; this is a very simple, straightforward ordinance,” Kobrock said. “We expect a lot of people will take it upon themselves to be compliant.”

« Previous

Messy storm to bring a couple inches of rain and snow Saturday

Next »

Federal funding contains $1.6 million for ‘forever chemicals’ treatment system in Madison