East Machias Selectmen

I presented the Byway Concept to the Town of East Machias Selectmen tonight: Kenneth "Bucket" David, Will Tuell and Dale Richardson. They had a number of questions about what byway designation would ultimately mean.

In particular, Bucket voiced concerns about that seeking byway designation may erode property-owners rights. All three Selectmen agreed that they wouldn't be supportive if designation meant more restrictions on property-owners. In my opinion, the Town's existing ordinances are consistent with adequate management of a State byway; and this shouldn't be a concern. To follow up, I will do some research on how Town's along other state designated byways balance property rights with preservation of the byways intrinsic qualities and make those available to the Selectmen and through this blog.

The Town has also had some recent experiences in which they felt that MaineDOT was less responsive to local concerns than they would have liked. They expressed some concerns that having the added "layer" of byway designation might make it more difficult to address local issues such as inadequate sidewalks and crosswalks.

Another question they raised was how the proposed byway fit in with the Sunrise Trail. I responded that the byway effort should be seem as complementary with promotion of the Sunrise Trail and other effort to promote nature-based tourism. It's all about getting people here to experience the natural beauty of Down East Maine and support local businesses while they are here.

In general, they liked the idea of designation hugging the coast (e.g. following 187 and 191, rather than Route 1 the whole way). And overall, they seemed open to the idea of seeking State designation as long as their concerns about property rights are addressed.