Report
on the 2011 SOS Maine Annual Meeting
Held at The Coastal House, Wells,
ME on Saturday, July 16, 2011
The annual meeting of
Save Our Shores Maine was held at the Coastal House on Saturday July
16, 2011. The meeting featured a visit and talk by Acting
Commissioner Pattie Aho on current initiatives at Maine's Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP). One of the first points Ms.
Aho mentioned was that the current administration has great respect for
Maine's natural resources; they consider Maine's lakes, mountains and
coastline to be special assets which must be protected and preserved.
She pointed out that the DEP had just levied the largest fine in
Maine's history on an oil company responsible for a recent spill.
Early in her talk, Ms. Aho stated that she was very pleased to hear
from the members of SOS Maine and to learn about the many issues that
coastline property owners face when dealing with the state in general
and the DEP in particular. She welcomed our input and
suggestions and stated that an open dialogue with our group would be
very useful in their current process of reviewing and reorganizing
existing rules and regulations. These comments were very refreshing and
encouraging to the SOS members, many of whom have felt, over the last
30 years, ignored and even attacked by prior administrations and groups
in the state legislature.
Ms. Aho went on to describe the current approach as "trying to find
common sense solutions to serve all of the people of Maine." One
example she cited was a review of the Shoreland Zoning Guidelines, now
40 years old, which are complex and confusing to understand and
interpret. The DEP wants to review these rules in order to simplify and
clarify them. The DEP is also reviewing Resource Protection Zone
regulations which are now covered by two state agencies, often with
conflicting directives. The DEP's goal is to simplify these
regulations, eliminate conflicting points, and make each town
responsible for deciding where these zones should be.
The Commissioner also addressed the issue of backlog of permits at the
DEP. She stated that there was an ongoing effort underway to
simplify and streamline this process and pointed out that her office
had already made substantial reductions in this backlog.
Ms Aho credited legislators from the Wells area, Kathy Chase and Ron
Collins, for helping her office make needed changes. Some of these
changes were mentioned: coastline property owners can now make certain
modifications to structures in a coastal zone without having to get a
special DEP permit first, tree cutting rules have been simplified and
improved, cobble trapping fences are now allowed on beachfront
properties year round and property owners can now put moderate-sized
cupolas in their yards.
All in all, the Commissioner's comments and the news of a new, more
rational approach at the DEP were very well received by the SOS
members. People were pleased to learn that the new
administration values their input and for the first time in many years;
DEP is interested in working with
coastline property owners.
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