Landowners on Old Fields Road have concerns about plans for public access to the regional land trust’s newest property along the Salmon Falls River in South Berwick.
Five neighbors at a public hearing before the Oct. 8 Planning Board meeting spoke against the Great Works Regional Land Trust’s plans, which they worry will create traffic and parking issues in the vicinity of the 79-acre Tidal Waters Conservation Area .
“We already have a state park on Old Fields Road, and I don’t know why we need another public park,” said Charlie Smith, referring to Vaughan Woods State Park just down the road. Smith, who lives across from the conservation area, also worried about increased traffic at the curve in the road.
Brooke Poteracki, Smith’s daughter, echoed his concerns about overflow parking, suggesting the free parking offered at all Land Trust properties might draw visitors from Vaughan Woods, which charges honor system fees of $1 to $3, to park instead at the conservation area.
“I own a piece of land across the street, and I don’t want cars parked on the street when the parking lot is full,” Poteracki said.
The neighbors were also concerned about future plans the Land Trust might have and how they could affect nearby property owners. The development plan now in a preliminary stage before the Planning Board calls for signs, trails, lookouts, grouped benches, informational kiosks, and an 11-space parking lot.
DeCarlo Brown, town planner and economic development director, explained that the Planning Board’s role is confined to reviewing the Land Trust application to develop the property for recreation.
“This board’s responsibility is to make sure that whatever they want to create is in line with the laws of South Berwick,” Brown said. “We have to review traffic and parking concerns and if (there is) a legal right for that use. “
A public park is a permitted use in the Residential 3 zone, he added.
Brown told abutters they could ask the Land Trust to provide information and assurances that parking will be adequate and wouldn’t result in people parking alongside the road on their property.
No Land Trust representatives were present at the public hearing, nor were they required to be in attendance, Brown said. They previously had asked that the public hearing be held this month, ahead of their final review by the Planning Board, he said.
The Land Trust acquired the conservation area last year, and South Berwick voters approved earmarking $200,000 in the town’s undesignated funds for development of public access and stewardship of the parcel, which encompasses uplands, salt marsh and a quarter mile of river frontage.
After the plan secures final approval from the Planning Board, the town – which continues to hold the funds – will pay for those elements of the project previously agreed upon by the Town Council, as they are completed.
So far, the Planning Board has accepted the Land Trust’s preliminary application as “complete,” meaning all required boxes are checked off for the development of trails, lookouts, a parking lot and the other amenities.
Going forward, the organization must provide more information about compliance with local ordinance before bringing the plan back to the Planning Board to seek approval.
