“It’s not fair

and it’s not right.”

That’s what Pine

Point resident Judy Shirk told the Scarborough Town Council last

week after the council voted 4-3 to approve a controversial land

swap with the owners of the Lighthouse Inn that will move parking

to the front of the inn and erase Depot Street.

The swap gives

inn owners Nick and Peter Truman the paved portion of Depot Street

in front of their 22-unit condo building/inn for expanded parking

and consolidates the inn’s parking in front of the building. The

town gets the Trumans’ current parking strip, which is

approximately 22.5 feet long, to possibly create a public drop-off

area, eliminating parking for cars on the side of the road.

“I think a

mistake has been made,” Shirk said. “I’m so upset right now, I

don’t even know what I want to say. We’re never going to be able to

drive down that road again.”

The decision came

after 29 Pine Point residents spoke for more than two hours, urging

the council to drop the swap. Most who spoke said the deal was not

fair for the town and they didn’t want to lose Depot Street, which

was built in the late 19^th century.

They also worried that public access to the

beach at that point would be lost and the Trumans could redevelop

Depot Street, blocking the view of the beach.

During the

meeting, John Thurlow, a member of the Pine Point Association,

presented an alternative plan to the council. It would have slid

Depot Street southerly and would have moved the parking strip in

front of the inn. This would have allowed Depot Street to still

exist while also consolidating parking in front of the inn, Thurlow

said.

“It gives them a perfect one-on-one swap,”

Thurlow said. “It’s a great benefit to both the town and the

landowners.”

The Trumans’

lawyer, Gene Libby of Libby, O’Brien, Kingsley and Champion, said

the plan the council has been considering for the past month made

the most sense. Libby presented the detailed plan to the council on

Wednesday night.

Currently,

beachgoers walk down Depot Street to the beach. The street places

the Trumans’ parking on both sides of the street. Cars back into

Depot Street as pedestrians walk down the road, which Libby said is

a public hazard.

“I was a

lobsterman in Pine Point from 1961 to 1978 and I know the area

well,” said Libby, who grew up in Blue Point. “The value to the

town and residents of the town is that this plan will enhance the

beauty of the location and make public access safer.”

Town Manager Tom Hall has had several meetings

with the Trumans on the issue. Hall said that the land swap deed

would be restricted, meaning the Trumans would not be allowed to go

ahead with any projects that could damage dune grasses or restrict

public access to the beach.

One of the

proposed plans following the land swap would create a 22-foot wide

strip that would maintain public access to the beach and allow

emergency vehicles to still get to the beach, Hall said.

“We really feel this is of a greater public

benefit to the town,” Hall said.

This is not the first time a proposal

regarding the inn has upset Pine Point residents.

In 2005 the Trumans discussed with the town

turning the motel into seven townhouse condominiums. The Pine Point

group opposed the plan and the Trumans agreed to scale the plan

back to as few as five condos. They later scrapped the plan.

“The association agreed with that plan,”

Thurlow said.

In 2007, the Trumans planned to turn the hotel

into 22 individual condominiums for private sale.

At the time, the Pine Point group argued that

the public should have been notified about the motel owners’ plans

to sell units and that the town should have stepped in to regulate

the conversion, according to a 2008 article in the Current.

A 90-page report released in March 2008 by the

town’s attorney and then-Town Manager Ron Owens said the town staff

acted properly in allowing the conversion to condominium

ownership.

Pine Point

residents also fought to have orange barrels removed from Depot

Street and a chicane that replaced the barrels. They said the road

was a public way and that a private party placed the barrels there.

Pine Point residents on Wednesday urged the

town to table the land-swap issue again. They said they wanted the

town to consider Thurlow’s idea and to consider alternative options

before making a decision.

Several residents also asked the council to

consider sending the issue to a citizen’s referendum.

“I would ask this council take some more time

to come up with a plan to improve public access that really works,”

said District 127 Rep. Sean Flaherty, who represents Pine Point.

“We need to have a better plan before we give up forever our right

to this land.”

Councilors Carol Rancourt, Karen D’Andrea and

Judith Roy voted against the swap.

All three said they wanted to table the issue

and wait to study Thurlow’s plan before making a final

decision.

“I need more time, facts and information,”

Rancourt said. “I don’t feel comfortable and I want the time to

look at more details.”

Town Councilor Ron Ahlquist, however, said

that considering additional plans would only delay the issue, not

solve it.

“For me it’s always one more committee, one

more study,” Ahlquist said. “It’s a delay tactic. The easy way out

is to say ‘let’s create another committee.’ You need to make a

decision once in a while. “It’s not a perfect plan, but it’s of

value to the town.”

Pine Point resident John Thurlow discusses an alternative to a land swap giving Depot Street to the owners of the Lighthouse Inn. Thurlow and other Pine Point residents objected to the swap, which councilors ultimately approved last week.
Photo by Al Edwards