As the Payson property continues its transformation from a sleepy private estate to a property with substantial new houses and public water access for area residents, it is important to remember that this transformation was put into action in largest part by the Payson family members who not only retained the right to develop 10 house lots and associated viewsheds on the property, but recently sold them to the highest bidder.
Blaming the Cumberland and Chebeague Land Trust for a breach of contract by the developer (who at the behest of CCLT had resurveyed and remarked the boundaries prior to ignoring them) seems to me blame that is grossly misplaced.
Ironically, the family and the land trust both want the same outcome: that the important natural resources on the property should be protected. Reserving, then selling the right to develop 10 house lots, and to clear viewsheds for each of these, seems to me the greater source of impact on the property, especially in contrast to Cumberland’s proposal to move one building and provide limited parking as far from the ocean as possible.
My trust in CCLT has not waned one bit.
Christopher Franklin
Cumberland
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