CARIBOU, Maine — Approximately 100 people with connections to the Fish River chain of lakes attended a Sept. 25 public hearing on J.D. Irving Limited’s concept plan to rezone approximately 51,000 acres of land within the area, expressing concerns about the phosphorus levels in Square Lake as well as Irving’s specific intentions regarding the 400 existing leases in the area.
The plan, which the Land Use Planning Commission approved on Sept. 11, is in effect as of Sept. 26.
The LUPC held Wednesday’s hearing at the Caribou Inn and Convention Center to “review the plan and answer questions from the public,” according to the LUPC after the approval..
LUPC Regional Supervisor Billie MacLean provided an overview of the project before opening the floor to comments. Also attending were LUPC Senior Planner Tim Beaucage and Acting Executive Director Samantha Horn.
The 30-year plan includes creating zoning for up to 330 residences, four areas at approximately 430 acres for commercial and light industrial development, and 51 acres to be tailored to recreational development.
The plan also includes placing roughly 16,764 acres in a permanent conservation easement. According to documentation on the state of Maine website written by Beaucage, Horn and MacLean, this easement will facilitate “sustainable forest management,” secure “public recreational access,” prohibit residential development and enhance resource protection.
The plan also will secure “permanent or long-term public access to lakes through the Long Lake Beach, Cross Lake Boat Launch, and a future public trailered ramp on Square Lake.”
MacLean discussed how the plan could benefit members of the public and leaseholders in the area, as well as Irving.
Public benefits include improved regional planning, opportunities for economic growth, public water access sites, and enhanced resource protections. These protections include the conservation easement, the replacement of wastewater systems farther from the lakes, improved sizing of water crossings on all new land management roads, and eliminating the risk of potentially “dozens of new private boat ramps,” according to LUPC.
Since the plan includes roughly 400 existing leases on three lakes, MacLean also discussed some benefits to leaseholders.
“A lot of the people here are leaseholders,” she said, “and although the plan does not specifically require the leased lots to be sold off, it does think through that process should Irving decide to do that and determines what needs to be done.”
She said there are improved options to leaseholders for placing septic systems, potentially for year-round use, which “typically comes with having a septic system farther away from the lake.” Replacement septic systems could be placed in a back lot, or even potentially in a strip of back land if a site evaluator determines that the land is too wet for a year-round septic system.
Benefits to Irving, MacLean said, include the ability to “develop a little faster than you would be able to normally,” in addition to “increased predictability of where that development could go.”
“It somewhat paves the way for future development,” she said, “and gets rid of the first step of zoning, which most folks have to go through for development.”
MacLean also discussed changes made during a June 7 revision to the concept plan, which included increasing the proposed easement to more than 16,700 acres to encompass a piece between Route 161 and the bottom of Cross Lake around the Carry Pond area to protect the wildlife and fish populations there.
In response to a question from the audience, MacLean said a public entity such as the state, county or even a town would own the public beaches and other public sites in the area outlined in the concept plan.
A couple in attendance expressed concerns that development in the Cross Lake area would exacerbate current conditions in the lake that includes higher phosphorus levels. MacLean said future development would take these conditions into consideration, as this year phosphorus levels deterred people from swimming in the lake.
Horn added that the LUPC has asked the Department of Environmental Protection to calculate current phosphorus levels and to determine the maximum amount that could be generated and not worsen lake conditions.
Another asked if it was LUPC’s goal to protect the fish and water quality in the lake, and said that “we’re kidding ourselves if we think what Iriving is doing is not going to impact the lake.” Regardless of phosphorus levels, “we’re not going to have a lake left” if serious development occurs in the area, the person said.
MacLean said much of the development will take place “away from the lake itself,” aside from “a few little fingers that come down, and those are very likely not large enough to do anything significant.”
One man asked about Irving’s specific plans moving forward.
“Nobody wants to ask this question,” he said. “Irving’s public comments on what they’re going to do with the leases have gotten squishier and squishier over the last few years. Has Irving given any indication at all as to what their intentions are with the timeline, pricing, methodology or anything?”
MacLean said that Irving has not disclosed any of this information, and when another person in the audience asked if any Irving representatives were present, Horn responded that none were.
“We didn’t call and ask them to come,” she said, “because we wanted to tell you about the plan, what it allows and what it requires, separate from the discussion with Irving about when, and for how much, they’re going to sell the land. We don’t have any authority over that, and we wanted you to know what’s possible, what’s required, and what your rights will be for road access if you buy anything so you have all the information you need to engage in that discussion.”
The LUPC held a public hearing at the same venue on May 18, 2018, during which all but one of the 15 members of the public who spoke expressed opposition to the plan, with some citing concerns about potential additional pollution to Cross Lake caused by development, and others about how the plan could disrupt the lakes’ current status as a place of solace.
Those opposed said they were concerned that the project would result in the once tranquil getaway turning into a busy tourist attraction while the one person in favor, who disclosed that he was an Irving employee, said the plan could bring jobs and people to Aroostook County, a region suffering from a rapidly declining population.
For information about the Fish River Lakes Concept Plan, visit the State of Maine website as well as a website created by Irving Woodlands, LLC regarding the plan and its scope.
