The Boothbay Region YMCA is seeking retroactive approval from the Boothbay planning board for harvesting timber and clear cutting trees at Camp Knickerbocker.

On February 27, the Boothbay Code Enforcement Department received notice from the Maine State Forest Service that extensive timber harvest had occurred at Camp Knickerbocker.

Boothbay Code Officer Dan Bryer discovered the unauthorized work, and immediately served the YMCA with a cease and desist order.

The YMCA was fined $750 dollars as part of a consent agreement, which allowed a case to be heard retroactively by the Boothbay planning board. On March 19, the Boothbay Region Water District testified against the approval of the YMCA’s permit request at the Boothbay Town Office.

“My board is asking you to reject the Y's application for an after-the-fact permit,” Water District Manager Jon Ziegra said. “We also recommend that the YMCA be fined to the maximum extent allowable under current regulations of the town of Boothbay, and that they are required to replant that zone.”

According to the documents obtained from the Boothbay Region Water District, the YMCA cleared trees from an area larger than 2 acres next to Lake Knickerbocker. The lake serves as one of Boothbay region’s two drinking water sources, and is part of the watershed reservoirs protection district.

According to the water district, the YMCA's actions were illegal because the YMCA never sought or obtained a permit from the planning board to harvest timber and clear trees within the 500 foot setback of the watershed zone, as required under the town’s ordinance. 

The YMCA owns 69 acres of land abutting Lake Knickerbocker. Mark Vannah, the forester who was hired by the YMCA to manage the operation, said he adhered strictly to the state's shoreland protection laws, which allows timber harvesting of up to 40 percent of the trees within a 250 foot setback.

Between the months of January and February, the YMCA’s forester harvested timber and cleared and an opening greater than 2 acres in size, mostly outside the shoreland zone. As far as Vannah was concerned, he was abiding by the rules issued by the Maine State Forest Service. What he didn't take in account, however, was that Boothbay's local watershed protection setback extends another 250 feet past the shoreland protection zone.

According to Andrew Morley, the head of the YMCA groundskeeping committee, the YMCA was not aware it needed planning board approval to harvest timber next to Knickerbocker Lake.

“What we did out there was in no way trying to circumvent the process,” Morley said. “We thought we were doing what we were supposed to do to get it done. We stopped as soon as we realized there was an issue.”

Currently timber harvesting is allowed in the watershed district with planning board approval, but open, cleared areas are limited up to 14,000 square feet. However, the YMCA cleared more than 2 acres of land within the watershed protection district, or more than 87,120 square feet of trees, without local approval.

Questions were raised as to whether the tree cutting was an attempt to follow through with the YMCA's master plan. Dating back to 2008, the YMCA's master plan includes converting a forested area between Knickerbocker Lake and Barters Island Road into a recreational ball field and parking. The YMCA's permit application and its forester's plan both indicated the cleared area would be converted to a field.

According to YMCA Executive Director Andy Hamblett, clearing the trees was in no way an attempt to move forward with the master plan.

“It really was meant to start better managing the property that was not really being managed well by the Y with the regards to timber harvesting or just timber management in general, and to better utilize that space,” Hamblett said. “We have lots of dreams for Camp Knickerbocker, but this was not some way to end up moving forward with (the master plan).”

Members of the planning board were concerned about why the YMCA never thought to check in with the town before clearing the trees. Planning board Chairman Alan Bellows didn't think that the YMCA's after-the-fact application properly addressed Boothbay's land use laws.

“I don’t see how we can approve a 2-acre clear cut when it's pretty clear to me that the ordinance says you can't have anymore than 14,000 square feet,” Bellows said. “I don't know how we can reconcile this.”

Ziegra indicated that the water district is not opposed to timber harvest within the water protection district, but he believes local review is necessary so as not to jeopardize the water quality of Knickerbocker Lake. By the end of the hearing, all the parties, including the water district, showed a strong incentive to work together to find a solution. 

The planning board voted unanimously to table its decision until the next hearing on April 16.

In the meantime, the YMCA will resubmit a new application. That application will include an erosion control plan, the elimination of the recreational ball field, and a plan to replant the area that was clear cut.  The YMCA is also expected to include additional plans to harvest timber in the watershed protection district.