Park Protections Under Threat
Dear reader,
You may have seen the article in the Portland Press Herald about Bug Light Park, but I’m writing to bring you, as a supporter of SPLT’s work in protecting open space, up to speed on a frustrating change of direction from the South Portland City Council. We have an opportunity to permanently protect some of the most iconic and most loved properties in our city, but we’ll need to mobilize more resources and more voices to do so.
What’s at Stake
Public parks in South Portland like Bug Light, Hinckley, and Mill Creek have no formal protection from development or sale - and while it’s hard to imagine a future City Council selling Bug Light for a lucrative oil tank deal or selling of a corner of Hinckley Park off for new McMansions, it’s not impossible. And it should be impossible. The City’s current Open Space plan calls for the most loved properties in South Portland to be permanently protected by placing a conservation easement on those properties - preventing them from being developed and ensuring they remain accessible to the public for generations to come. Conservation easements are everywhere in Maine, the tool of choice for land protection advocates since their enabling legislation in 1985. Thousands of conservation easements now protect over 2.5 million acres across the State, from large swaths of untouched forest land in the Northern Woods to some of the beaches that keep visitors coming back to Maine over and over again. They allow landowners (public or private) to extinguish the development rights on the property while retaining ownership and call in a partner, typically a land trust, to help hold them to their promise of permanent land protection. The City’s current Open Space Plan directs the city to protect the “cream of the crop” of public lands with conservation easements - and, when they met last month to seal the deal and protect Bug Light Park so that South Portland residents can enjoy the space forever, the Council changed their mind. These parks remain unprotected today.
History
In 2019, South Portland citizens, SPLT members, city staff and committees, and the City Council came together with the shared mission of identifying and protecting open space across the city. As an SPLT member, you probably don’t need the full run-down on why open space is important - but parks and public lands contribute directly to residents’ quality of life, wildlife habitat and native species, and air/water quality metrics, just to name a few. South Portland came together to acknowledge those benefits and protect what open space we could. That effort led to the adoption of South Portland’s Open Space Plan (link to pdf) - a comprehensive strategy to identify what space should be protected and mechanisms to do so. That Open Space Plan remains on the books today and led to some major gains for conservation advocates including the $5m voter approved Open Space Acquisition bond. A key piece of that plan is to essentially protect all of the “Tier 1” properties identified by the City (think Mill Creek, Hinckley, Bug Light, parts of the Greenbelt, etc.) with a conservation easement.
Upon the adoption of that plan, SPLT volunteers collaborated with City staff and members of the Conservation Commission to draft the terms of that easement. That process was incredibly deliberate and careful and involved literally thousands of hours of time and effort from unpaid citizen volunteers. What would be allowed, what wouldn’t be allowed? What if the City wanted to put an ice skating rink in a property or a community garden? (allowed). What if the City wanted to build a storage shed for maintenance equipment? (allowed). What if the City wanted to run some kind of program or build some kind of infrastructure 100 years from now that we don’t even know about yet? (allowed). Volunteers that drafted that easement worked hard to create a document that protects conservation and recreation values while providing the City of South Portland with as much flexibility and discretion as possible. We started with Bug Light, thinking the rest of the Tier 1 properties could be based on that model and template.
On February 7th, we presented the draft easement to Council and, by 4-3 vote, the Council declined to fulfill the commitment it had set out for itself, voting to not place an easement on Bug Light and instructing staff to go back to the drawing board and prepare amendments to the ordinances built out by that Open Space Plan.
Council Justification
So what did we hear from the Council when they rejected the call for permanent protection?
1. South Portland is not legally allowed to grant easements on publicly held property. A municipality is prohibited from granting interest in a property to a 3rd party.
Response: Our rough calculations have identified nearly 50 parcels in Cumberland County with conservation easements held by land trusts atop municipally-owned land. This includes 15 parcels in Falmouth, 8 parcels in Yarmouth, 2 in Cape Elizabeth, and even 2 in South Portland. Yes, that’s right - South Portland already owns property upon which easements are held by a land trust (Sawyer Marsh and Sawyer Park). There is clear precedent, state law provides no conflict, and Article 1 Sec. 3 of the City Charter gives the City wide latitude in deciding how to manage its property, no issues there. We have conducted informal surveys of other land trusts and conservation experts around the State - this practice is common and well-established in Maine.
2. Putting an easement on a public park is tantamount to giving an unelected body (SPLT or another land trust) control over public assets.
Response: This argument is based on a misunderstanding of what easements do. SPLT (or whichever body holds an easement) will not get to control what happens on a protected property - the Easement Holder doesn’t decide how a park is used or not used but rather the Holder’s role is to hold the property owner accountable to its own terms and commitments. The City (and the City alone) retains ownership and the exclusive authority to manage, develop, design, plan, maintain, and program on the property. The City can still sell the property, though the Easement remains and will prevent development. The City is in complete control of its decision to extinguish development rights on the property.
3. The City should not make decisions that limit the future powers of future councils.
Response: The City makes decisions all the time that limit the powers of future councils - it sells land, equipment, other assets. It borrows money that impact the finances of the City for years or decades. Making a policy decision to ensure public land remains public and that the access values are preserved is entirely within the rights of a Council - see item 1.
4. There may be alternatives to “permanent protection” that can satisfy our obligations to protection of open space.
Response: We disagree! Look no further than how the City Council’s position changed in the last few years - from a Council that agreed park spaces will provide benefit to residents and visitors in 2022 to a Council that isn’t so sure in 2023. Permanent protection (via easements) provides a safeguard against a theoretical Council composition that wants to make a quick buck by selling off a corner of Bug Light for a billboard or developing Hinckley into lucrative subdivisions. This needs to be permanent to have weight.
Call to Action and What’s Next
The City has scheduled a workshop discussion on May 9th to revisit the ordinance that includes language on tiering and protecting properties. We have no indication where the will of the Council currently lies beyond the comments made in February's meeting and some subsequent clarification from Councilor West in a follow-up meeting.
Our position remains the same: these properties deserve the same level of protection as the other iconic spaces in our state. Bug Light deserves to be protected the same way the North Woods deserve to be protected. Hinckley deserves to be protected the same way Robinson Woods deserves to be protected. Mill Creek deserves to be protected the same way Falmouth Community Park deserves to be protected. Fisherman’s Wharf deserves to be protected the same way the Belfast waterfront at Heritage Park deserves to be protected. Previous City Councils and South Portland residents have made it clear that this is a public benefit, presented the current Council with the best available option, and we’re frustrated the City is changing course on protecting our parks and public lands. We intend to continue advocating for strong, permanent, enforceable protection these properties and need your support.
Call to Action
Reach out to us to learn more. Our Board is willing and happy to share more information about the process and status of park protections. I’d be glad to talk on the phone or in-person or share more info in writing to help folks learn more about the nuance of these conservation tools. We would love to hear your thoughts on this!
Stay in touch. SPLT is starting to plan community events to build a broader understanding of this issue, how easements function, and why permanent protection is our desired outcome.
Reach out to your Councilor to learn more about their objections and affirm your desire to see permanent protection placed on these properties. We’re happy to help you find the right message, share talking points, and help put you in touch directly with members of the Council.
Join us and make public comment on May 9th - the first session where Council will discuss alternatives to easements, and share your perspectives.
Please, let us know what you think and if you’d like to be involved. One thing we know for sure is that permanent protection is only going to be an option if the community makes their voice heard. We’d love to strategize together.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Alex Redfield on behalf of the SPLT Board of Directors
(207)475-7235
More Information
City of South Portland: City Council Members & Contact Information
Unsure which district you live in? Find out here.
District One
Jocelyn E. Leighton
Telephone: (207) 518-0974
Email: jleighton@southportland.org
District Two
Katherine W. Lewis
Telephone (207) 233-7615
Email: klewis@southportland.org
District Three
Misha C. Pride
Telephone: (207) 749-7817
Email: mpride@southportland.org
District Four
Linda C. Cohen
Telephone: (207) 831-9574
Email: lcohen@southportland.org
District Five
Deqa A. Dhalac
Telephone: (207) 553-0303
Email: ddhalac@southportland.org
At-Large
Richard T. Matthews
Telephone: (207) 216-7543
Email: rmatthews@southportland.org
At-Large
Natalie West
Telephone: N/A
Email: nwest@southportland.org