The Concerned Citizens of Raymond and members of the Frye Island governance have arrived at a reasonable solution to the Frye Island application for parking on the Raymond Cape.

The realization that Frye Island owns the land and that parking is so stated as a permitted use made for a common sense decision to sit down with the Frye leadership in order to seek a mutually agreeable solution. Both sides of the “pond” have spent substantial funds opposing each other. It was and is time to reach some middle ground in a spirit of cooperation.

Now pending before the Raymond Planning Board is our joint proposal, which essentially covers and includes the following:

The desired parking lot will be limited to 50 automobiles.

The lot is for the exclusive use of Frye Island residents and their guests. It will be monitored by Frye Island to assure compliance.

The lot will be closed when the island closes and access will be barricaded.

Lighting of the parking lot will not be obtrusive to neighbors or the night sky through the use of low-profile bollard lighting.

The Cape Road will be sufficiently widened to accommodate orderly queuing of cars awaiting ferry boarding. Walk-on passengers can either be dropped off or park vehicles in the lot and walk down a lighted path through the woods.

Most importantly, there will be no further application for additional parking in or expansion of the lot for the next seven years.

Presently, we and Frye Island have jointly put forth these collaborative plans and efforts to the Raymond Planning Board with the hope that the board sees the merit of this new application, and will view the proposal as a reasonable and suitable fit for a parking lot in a residential neighborhood. It will reflect the rural quality of the area, and not that of a commercial zone.

Tom Ewig, Barb Lovell

Concerned Citizens

of Raymond