Ready for review: Group presents recommendations for Cape Elizabeth’s open space

CAPE ELIZABETH — After nearly two years of work, Cape Elizabeth’s Open Space and Greenbelt Management Committee has turned in its final recommendation for managing 923 acres of town-owned land, including more than 16 miles of public trails.

At Monday’s Town Council meeting, the report was immediately referred to the ordinance committee to be codified into statute. Town Manager Michael McGovern said Tuesday the bulk of the report is destined to become a new chapter of the town’s Conservation Ordinance.

“Unless this is adopted by ordinance, it’s a council policy without a whole lot of teeth,” said McGovern, at a Dec. 5 workshop session, where the final report was first reviewed. “You can’t use the police power with a policy.”

However, that may not happen until sometime next year, he said, because rules regulating animal noise and short-term rental properties have been given agenda priority by the newly reconstituted committee, consisting of councilors James Walsh, Katharine Ray and Dave Sherman.

However, that does not dilute the importance of the 33-page Open Space plan.

“For the first time, there is a comprehensive list of uses or activities that would be allowed on some parcels and not on others,” explained Town Planner Maureen O'Meara, at a recent workshop.

The policy proposals do not include changes to Fort Williams Park or the town athletic fields, which are independently managed. However, each of the remaining 55 lots now owned by the town, ranging from the 0.03-acre Canterbury Well House to the 27-acre Gull Crest area, are laid out in new charts that detail the allowable public uses on each property.

For the first time, these areas have a list of acceptable uses and activities, ranging from limits on hunting and trapping hours to requirements for dealing with pet waste.

For example, trails will be open at all hours, but nighttime use will be restricted to “quiet enjoyment.” Not all of the proposed rules curtail uses, however. The plan, for example, does allow dogs to be off-leash in many open space areas.

Most of what appear to be new rules simply codify what O’Meara said has long been the “unwritten policy” of the Conservation Commission, which managed the open lots.  Others merely bring the town into compliance with existing state law. For example, bow hunters will now need to register their tree stands with the town prior to putting them up.

“State law already says bow hunters have to seek permission of the property owner, and the town is the owner of this land,” said O’Meara.

In addition, the plan gives names to many of the town-owned parcels for the first time.

“When you talk about Map U-1, Lot 32, that kind of thing doesn’t really roll off the tongue,” said O’Meara. “So, the Open Space Management Committee agreed that these spaces really deserved names. This report is chock-full of names that are proposed for council consideration. Most of them have never been used before.”

For example, one lot includes land acquired by the town as part of the open space developers were required to sign over in the Blueberry Ridge and Rosewood subdivisions. Because all of that land belonged to the Dyer family 100 years ago, it’s now called the Dyer Woods.

McGovern said the place names probably won’t be formalized by the full council until after the ordinance committee has worked out the usage rules.

That, said O’Meara, is the heart of the plan. It divides open areas into separate categories, including seven "preserve" spaces – where the presence of wetlands or other features will “severely constrain” use.

The draft management plan treats another group of small parcels as "neighborhood parks," valuable primarily to the surrounding neighborhood.

“We were charged by the Town Council to come up with this plan,” said Dena DeSena, chairwoman of the committee. “The people of Cape really value their open space. Our lands have been growing and our management needs have been growing, but the Conservation Commission has been just this little group of seven doing a lot of the work ourselves. So, the Town Council wanted to make sure that we were all prepared for that.”

The new plan, she said, is a “companion piece” to the greenbelt plan first adopted by town councilors in 1977. It called for the creation of trail system that would put every home within 15 minutes of walking trails stretching the length and breadth of the town.

However, the biggest contribution made by the report, DeSena said, may not be the usage rules or conservation measures called for, but the maps created by O’Meara for each lot.

“Maureen and her staff worked countless hours,” said DeSena, pointing to one of many maps in the report. “They documented every single piece of land owned by this town and I don’t think there ever was a place you could go and see that information. Just for that, this was terrific.”

“I agree,” said Councilor Dave Sherman, referencing a map of Broad Cove.

“I saw that lot and I always thought that was owned by the homeowners along Jordan Farm Road,” he said. “Now I know I that I can actually go down to the pond and I’m not trespassing. So, it’s very helpful.”