Dear Editor:

The Boothbay Harbor Waterfront Preservation Board extends warm holiday wishes to all peninsula residents and visitors. While disappointed that we were unable to open the Park grounds in 2022, we look forward to 2023 and remain committed to our dual mission of offering much needed public access to the water and protecting working waterfront in Boothbay Harbor.

Regulatory activity continued to be a Board focus in 2022. The Park and Marina building permit was appealed by an abutter on Dec. 16, 2021. The appeal was followed by many months of demands for changes to our 2020 approved site plan by the abutter. The demands were based primarily on a letter solicited from the Maine DEP alleging our parking area was illegal. The DEP has since abandoned that position and on Nov. 9, 2022, the Planning Board reviewed and affirmed their original finding that all of our proposed parking conforms with town ordinance. Despite all of the allegations of illegality and numerous town board meetings, the Park site plan remains unchanged since the appeal was filed more than a year ago. On Jan. 31 2023, the Board of Appeals will offer a final decision on the Park and Marina building permit appeal.

In September of 2022, a stop work order was issued for Park construction. Although we expect the order to be removed shortly, the Waterfront Preservation Board will remain under “proceed at your own risk” instructions from our legal counsel while appeals remain active either at the town level or in court. More detailed updates of permitting issues can be found in the Questions and Answers section of the Waterfront Preservation website.   www.eastsidewaterfrontpark.com

Looking forward, the Board will soon be filing permit applications for a re-imagined main structure (the “Hodgdon House”), a new waterfront pavilion and a meaningfully expanded working waterfront float footprint. We remain grateful for the continued widespread community trust and support. Happy Year!

Boothbay Harbor Waterfront Preservation Board of Directors