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Augusta residents fight aquaculture proposal

One neighbor says he dreads the prospect of 'the smell of dead fish wafting through the air.'

By KEITH EDWARDS Kennebec Journal

AUGUSTA - Residents and some city councilors fear a zoning change proposed to make way for a businessman's plans to process live mussels and breed tropical fish off Route 17 could blemish two-thirds of the city's neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, others are concerned that rejecting the proposed zoning change could turn away jobs at a time when they're desperately needed.

Following discussion at a City Council meeting Thursday night, officials and residents are no closer to agreeing on a solution.

Kevin Judkins, who lives directly across the street from the weekly classified publication Uncle Henry's in a house that his grandfather built, warned against allowing an unknown business, such as aquaculture, in that area and potentially anywhere else in two-thirds of the city, without exploring the potential consequences.

Judkins said, "Uncle Henry's is a great neighbor as it is now. But how would you like to sit on your back deck, having a barbecue, with the smell of dead fish wafting through the air? I want to make sure that doesn't happen."

City councilors asked the Planning Board to make a recommendation on the issue of aquaculture and the potential new business. It's in anticipation of receiving a proposal to start a business that processes imported live mussels and raises tropical fish for resale.

Planners responded with two recommendations: that aquaculture be allowed as a conditional use in all areas where agriculture is already allowed, which would include about two-thirds of the city's land area; and changing the zone of a portion of Route 17 in the area of Uncle Henry's, where the business would be located, from a residential to a mixed-use zone in which light manufacturing and aquaculture would be allowed.

Some officials and residents say allowing an unknown business of aquaculture to be located in two-thirds of the city -- including near residential neighborhoods -- could have unforeseen consequences and doesn't jibe with the city's 2007 comprehensive plan.

"When people buy a home in a zone, they have an expectation it's going to stay the same zone," Councilor Patrick Paradis said during a long, heated debate on the issue at Thursday's council meeting. "People make an investment in their homes and now we're saying we're going to allow light manufacturing right next to their home, and it's a business we know nothing about. There hasn't been due diligence that residents deserve."

Jeffrey L. Belanger, whose Route 17 home is near the proposed mussel and fish site, said the city already has industrial zones and business parks where such a business could operate. Why then would it be allowed in a rural residential area adjacent to some 25 homes, he asked.

Uncle Henry's and land surrounding it is owned by Joseph Sutton, the businessman who hopes to open an indoor tropical fish breeding operation with 200 to 400 individual small breeding tanks. Plans also call for an associated facility with large holding tanks that would process live mussels imported from Newfoundland for resale, according to city officials.

Sutton has not submitted an application for the project, but a representative of his has spoken to city planners about his plans.