The Boothbay Harbor planning board conditionally approved an application to install eight floats on the east side of the harbor May 22 in front of a full house at town hall. The approval was the sole business item in the special meeting regarding the Boothbay Harbor Waterfront Preservation property at 65 Atlantic Ave.

BHWP applied May 18 to reconfigure and install eight 10-foot by 20-foot floats, in addition to a 14-foot hoist, for commercial use on the south pier at the property.

"This is a simple request, we think, and a narrow one,” said Joseph Siviski, an attorney for BHWP. "There is an immediate need for the new floats due to some nearby construction at Carters Wharf which has displaced some local fishermen and lobstermen. So, we'd like to be able to offer that space to them."

According to BHWP, the floats are intended to be used by fishermen for buying and selling their products, storing gear, loading and unloading catch and other commercial uses.

Siviski said the organization was seeking approval for work on the south pier of the site towards the water, not for alteration of the upland portion of the site. He said the action was limited to marina use of the south pier that has already been approved by permitting authorities including the Department of Environmental Protection and the selectboard through a wharves and weirs permit.

An April 27 appeals board decision halted progress on Eastside Waterfront Park, which would have included the commercial space. The planning board agreed to hold the special meeting to help expedite the process for the floats.

Attorney Kristin Collins spoke for park abutters Joseph and Jill Doyle, who filed the appeal. She expressed interest in having as accurate records as possible. She requested specificity about the use of the space in the application and clarity on if and how any upland space would be used.

“The Doyles, I think, have no concern about these wharves, there was a wharves and weirs application that we did not participate in,” she said. “So, no concern there about the wharves themselves. It’s really about the upland use and, also, just making sure that we are not inadvertently blessing a plan for the whole development ...”

The planning board spent over an hour processing the application and reviewing a more than 20-page checklist around ordinances. Thomas Churchill, Jon Dunsford, William Hamblen and Ronald Cohen formed the quorum. Town attorney John Cunningham was also there.

The board found much of the site’s use and compliance were grandfathered. The board paid particular attention to land use, parking areas and environmental effects. Members approved the application unanimously, 4-0, with three conditions: 

According to the board, the approval was only for specific uses mentioned in the application, not the site plan for the park. The board also stated the access road from the shore needs to be maintained, especially in regard to controlling erosion. Lastly, the board required that stormwater runoff control systems be maintained to ensure proper function.

After the decision, Devyn Campbell, a local fisherman working with BHWP, said the new floats mean the fishermen displaced from Carter’s Wharf will have significantly more space. He said there will initially be room for three or four boats, but plans call for around eight eventually.

Campbell said space is currently congested with about 10 boats operating on 40 feet of floats, loading and unloading, storing traps and maintaining regular commercial activities.

"This is going to allow us to have more room and make sure all that happens. Summertime, they are dealing with 40 crates a day and they don't have space for that right now," he said. "It's a good space to do anything related to commercial fisheries."

Campell said the next step will be to put up the floats as soon as possible. He hopes to have them installed within the month.