Dear Editor:

The town of Boothbay has given Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens a permit to double their development footprint, clearcut forest for 918 parking spaces, and accommodate annual visitation of up to 350,000 individuals in a residential zone. Some of this development is in the watershed of Knickerbocker Lake and threatens the peninsula’s drinking water.

The change to the Gaecklein Road is alarming; once blasting is complete, it will be irreparable. Most alarming is that some of the work is happening in the watershed of the region’s drinking water. The erosion controls that should have been in place from day one were deemed inadequate by the DEP. We have had only two small rains since work began, but during both of these storms, mud and phosphorus escaped the work site and fouled vernal pools and a Knickerbocker Lake stream.

My in-laws chose to live in the woods on the Gaecklein Road for the solitude, and for 50 years have lovingly maintained their property. Imagine the forest (that was in a conservation easement for decades) next to your property being clearcut and blasted for months so that a waste disposal system and parking lots could be put in upstream from your well. The reward for enduring months of destruction will be a massive parking lot next door. Imagine knowing that the home you hoped to leave behind for your family is no longer the quiet gathering place beloved by three generations. Imagine knowing that this is Phase 1 and there is more to come.

CMBGs dismissal of local concerns and aggressive push for approval is not the behavior of a local non-profit. It is the behavior of a profit-driven corporation. This is a large-scale commercial development in a residential zone. For that reason alone the project should never have been permitted. When the impacts to wildlife and the lake are considered, the incongruity of this project is clear.

The Boothbay Region Water District and the Anthony family are appealing the planning board’s approval of CMBG’s $30 million Phase 1 expansion. Join us as we try to convince CMBG to consider reasonable options to reduce the impacts of their desire to expand.

Mame Anthony

Boothbay