BRUNSWICK

Opposition from abutters continues as the town considers acquiring property at 945 Mere Point Road in Brunswick for the purpose of creating more public access to the shore.

The town will lead a public site visit at the property on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and again on Wednesday, July 13 at 5:30 p.m.

The property, consisting of about four acres and a cottage Town Manager John Eldridge said is uninhabitable due to mold issues, has a town appraised value of $221,900. The outstanding tax debt on the property when acquired by the town was $64,666.

Mere Point residents that spoke during a June 20 forum were decidedly opposed to any further public use in their community.

Arabella Strovink lives on land abutting the parcel. Citing other areas of public use, such as the nearby boat ramp, Strovink said there are other options that would not put “a very dear burden on immediate neighbors.”

Strovink added that should the town decide to develop the land, property owners should have a seat at the table.

Also abutting the property is Joan Sutcliffe, who said she knew the former owners. Sutcliffe said when they passed, the family was not able to keep up with taxes, leading the town to “confiscate” the land.

Sutcliffe said rising taxes have caused many to leave their coastal homes for more inland accommodations.

Heather Osterfeld said she considers herself an abutter since she has a view of the property and said the central issue at stake is whether the town has a right to decide the fate of the property.

“Does any government after acquiring a property have a duty or a right to do anything but return that property to tax rolls?” Osterfeld said.

Osterfeld said the town was encroaching on the rights of property owners, asking “how would you feel if you suddenly had the public next door?”

Osterfeld called the notion of public access “unacceptable” and after investing their entire savings into the “peace and quiet” of their home, they will defend their property.

Jackie Sartoris, a former town councilor, worked several years ago to bring a boat ramp to Mere Point. She said she finds the arguments against acquiring 945 Mere Point Road very familiar.

“We heard very, very similar reactions to even the concept of public access there,” Sartoris said.

Sartoris said that what bothered her about the boat launch process was that there was a sense that any sort of access by the public — to the public water, was somehow “unsavory or inappropriate.”

“They own coastal property, not the public water,” Sartoris said.

Sartoris said that when people as much as a mile away are voicing concerns about public access, it’s no longer about a neighborhood as much as it is a sense that the public doesn’t belong there — something Sartoris said is really troubling.

Sartoris said that Brunswick residents who do not live on the water still have a stake and do a lot to protect the bay in regards to how they can build and how much permeable surface they can have on their property.

Before the opening of the Mere Point boat launch, Sartoris said the council underwent a broad study, taking into consideration every concern, including fears of a rise in crime, lower property values, teenage drinking and even child molestation.

“That wasn’t brought up just once — it came up on several occasions,” Sartoris said of the molestation fears.

After studying more than two dozen public access sites, police reports and impacts on property values near other boat launches, the results were clear.

“What we found was most of these concerns had no basis in actual experience,” Sartoris said.

dmcintire@timesrecord.com

Two site visits

• THE TOWN will lead a public site visit at the Mere Point property on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and again on Wednesday, July 13 at 5:30 p.m.