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Maine Voices: Cape Elizabeth has another chance to vote down Fort Williams fees

The wisdom shown by the state in canceling a fee for Kettle Cove should also apply to this town park.

By DAVID PLIMPTON

CAPE ELIZABETH - On April 12, Maine's Bureau of Parks and Lands announced that a fee would be charged for entrance to Kettle Cove Beach State Park, which up to now has been free.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Plimpton (e-mail: plimpton@maine.rr.com) is a resident of Cape Elizabeth.

On April 14, the bureau announced that Gov. John Baldacci had decided to shelve the mandatory fee plan and it will instead install "iron ranger" boxes at the Cape Elizabeth beach, into which park visitors can drop voluntary donations.

Why the about-face? Clearly, public concern over the fees caused Gov. Baldacci to make them voluntary.

Kettle Cove is not widely known outside of Cape Elizabeth, but it is heavily used by Cape residents. The small beach with its gentle surf and shallow waters is a particular favorite of parents with young children. It is understandable that Kettle Cove users would object -- apparently loudly enough for the governor to hear -- to the sudden imposition of fees at their favorite beach.

How ironic, then, that the Cape Elizabeth Town Council has voted to impose a $5 parking fee at Fort Williams, Cape's municipal park, widely visited and used by out-of-town visitors.

Until now, Cape Elizabeth, as is usual with municipal parks, has never charged any sort of fee for access to Fort Williams Park with its historic lighthouse, Portland Head Light. Having already been approved by the council, the parking fee measure will be voted on in an "advisory" referendum on June 8.

Except for an eight-year detour to South Portland, I have lived in Cape Elizabeth since 1966, so I am very familiar with Fort Williams and its history. Going back to the 1960s, when Cape Elizabeth purchased Fort Williams for $200,000, Cape residents have refused to impose entrance or parking fees for residents or non-residents.

Residents have believed Cape is very fortunate to have "the Fort," as many call it, and have been proud to share this beautiful park with all visitors.

In recent years, as some residents have concluded the town spending on the Fort is insufficient to maintain and preserve it, proposals for charging fees at the Fort have surfaced. In 2003, the Town Council defeated a fee proposal 5-2.

In 2006, a pay/display parking fee and seasonal pass system was proposed for non-residents, trolleys and tour buses only -- residents would be exempt from fees.

There was not enough support within the council to pass even that limited proposal, so councilors sent the issue to referendum.

Cape voters rejected the fee proposal 62 percent to 38 percent, even though it would not have applied to residents.

Following the referendum vote, the council rejected the fee proposal, with most councilors agreeing that the wishes of residents should be respected and other means of financial support for the Fort should be sought.

Now, little more than three years later, a parking fee proposal is back. At a Jan. 4 public forum on the issue, almost all of those who spoke opposed fees. Speakers suggested many ideas other than fees to generate revenues from the Fort, most of them involving providing food and other services for visitors while preserving the essential character of the Fort.

Speakers also pointed out that an increase in the registration fee for the annual Beach to Beacon road race would raise more than enough to equal the amounts currently budgeted annually for Fort Williams -- $160,000.

Instead of respecting residents' wishes, expressed over many years, that measures other than fees be found to pay for Fort maintenance, the council went ahead and approved the parking fee proposal by a 5-2 vote.

In light of the sentiment against mandatory fees for Kettle Cove Beach State Park, what message does the council's action send to the rest of the state?

To me, the message is pretty clear: Mandatory fees are fine at Cape's municipal park, Fort Williams, where most of the visitors are from elsewhere and the fees will go to the town of Cape Elizabeth.

However, mandatory fees are unacceptable at a state park used by many Cape residents when the fees will go to the state.

I don't believe this message of selfishness accurately reflects the feelings of most Cape residents, and I hope voters will again vote "no fees" on Election Day, June 8.

Perhaps then, at long last, the council will get the message.