NORWAY — The Planning Board is expected to make a decision Thursday on the proposed Crooked River Yurts project off Sodom Road.

The project calls for eight yurts 24 feet in diameter for short-term rentals, and a bathhouse with a setback of 100 feet from the river. The yurts will sit on a half-acre of land. The proposal also includes a storage shed, a parking lot and a septic system.

Each yurt would have an outdoor sitting area with a solo outdoor stove or fire pit. The yurts will not have a wraparound deck, but each will have two doors.

Alex Poland, who is developing the property said at a public hearing last month that each yurt would house up to four people.

In February, the board initially ruled the project as a subdivision, which would have limited the number of structures on the property. The attorney for the applicant provided a letter stating his opinion that the proposal should be considered as a campground instead of a subdivision, an opinion that the town’s attorney shared.

The heavy-duty structure will have 2-by-6 rafters and each will take five people five days to build, according to Paula Harrington, an abutter who opposes the project.

Each yurt would sit 100 feet from the river, 75 feet from a tributary on the property and 500 feet from Sodom Road.

The plan has come under fire from some abutters to the property and conservationists due to the fragile spawning areas for landlocked salmon, which is near the proposed site. The 60-plus mile Crooked River, and specifically the area near the Sodom Road bridge, is one of the top spawning areas in the entire state. The river feeds the entire salmon fishing stock in Sebago Lake.

“The Crooked River, the largest tributary to Sebago Lake, is the single most important spawning and nursery tributary supporting the wild salmon sport fishery in the lake,” James Pellerin, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife resource management supervisor for fisheries for the Sebago Lake Region, wrote in a letter addressed to the Planning Board and Code Enforcement Officer Chris Bilodeau about the project. “The river has the potential to significantly, if not entirely, sustain Sebago Lake’s salmon fishery with naturally produced fish.”

“Today, significant numbers of wild salmon and brook trout are again being produced throughout the entire Crooked River,” Pellerin added. “MDIFW considers this watershed to be some of the most significant inland fisheries habitat in the region and state. Based on spawning and habitat surveys, the Sodom Road area of the river is the most significant reach of spawning and nursery habitat of the entire 62-mile river.”

At last month’s public hearing, the landlocked salmon spawning grounds drew the most concerns. The 100-page application, however, does not mention the salmon fishery, but does make reference to trout in the river.

“The only animal habitat located on the property is a wild brook trout habitat associated with the Crooked River,” pages three and four of the application states. “Wild brook trout habitat is not considered to be a significant wildlife habitat.”

The application lists the criteria for a significant wildlife habitat as defined by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, which does not include landlocked salmon.

In his letter to the board, Pellerin recommended that buffers for all bodies of water be at least 100 feet to protect the water quality and temperature. He also recommends that the development avoid stream crossings, but if one is necessary, that it include adequate fish passage.

Poland, who runs a similar development in Bethel, said he has had no issues with renters there who utilize the property year-round.

The Norway property is also expected to be open to renters year-round.

If approved, the project is expected to begin within a few weeks and be completed before October.

The Planning Board meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Forum on Main Street in Paris.

The Planning Board is also expected to vote Thursday on the Lakeside Norway project. The board held a three-hour-plus public hearing April 14 to discuss the project and hear some neighbors’ concerns with noise, lighting and more boating. The hearing also included several residents speaking in favor of the project.

Lakeside Norway is a 6.64-acre lot on two adjacent parcels — at 61 Lake Road and one listed as 0 (zero) Lake Road. Lake Road is also Routes 117 and 118. It was once the home of C.B. Cummings Mill and the Norway Packing Co. and sits along nearly 1,500 feet of lake frontage on the eastern bay of Pennesseewassee Lake. There are seven buildings on the property, which is within the Downtown Gateway Area.

It is about a five-minute walk from downtown Norway.

Lakeside Norway could also offer a venue for weddings and other events.

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