CHEBEAGUE ISLAND — A Special Town Meeting on Saturday defeated a proposal to build more public parking near Stone Wharf Road by rezoning the shoreland overlay district.

Article 3 called for amending the Limited Commercial zone to Commercial Fisheries/Maritime Activities. It failed in the March 4 vote, 40-26.

Amending the zoning would have have created room to build a public parking lot of about 30 spaces on an acre of land near the private Great Chebeague Golf Club. The golf club’s donation of the land to the town would free up parking along Stone Wharf Road, which runs along the club.

Passage of Article 4 automatically failed with Article 3’s demise. Article 4 called for setting aside nearly $110,000 to build a fence around the newly created parking lot and landscape the area. 

“Generally (voters) felt the town needed to have a broader plan to address the safety issues at Stone Wharf (Road),” Town Administrator Marjorie E. Stratton said Monday. 

Stratton said there have not been any serious accidents on the road, and reducing the number of cars that park there leading into the golf club remains a goal. Stratton said no one from the golf club attended Saturday’s meeting.

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The vote on Article 3 was by written ballot. 

Later, voters remaining in the hall unanimously approved by a show of hands Warrant Article 5, adding two paragraphs to the island’s Shellfish Conservation Ordinance. The state Department of Marine Resources recommended the amendment.

Financial penalties between $300 and $500 apply for shellfish harvesting from closed flats. Signage delineating the closed flats must be posted, too. The town regularly posts these signs, including at Johnson Cove and Chebeague’s inner hook. 

Stratton said she thought Saturday’s turnout on a bone-chilling, blustery morning was a good one. There are 350 residents registered to vote on the island.

Moderator Peter Rice presided over the 75-minute meeting, which was attended by all selectmen except Jean-Louis “Bo” Beaupre, who was absent for personal reasons.

Residents will meet again as a group for the town’s annual Town Meeting on June 10, at Chebeague Island Hall. On July 1, the town will mark its 10th anniversary, according to its website, townofchebeagueisland.org.

Lisa D. Connell can be reached at 781-3661, ext. 183 or lconnell@theforecaster.net. Follow Lisa on Twitter: @connell_ld.


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