Council to consider rezoning for Samoset marina

ROCKLAND – The Samoset Resort may be able to glimpse the finish line tonight in its bid to win approval to build a marina.

The City Council meets at 7 p.m. at City Hall to discuss, among other things, a possible agreement with the resort on rezoning a portion of the Samoset property near the Rockland Breakwater.

The resort wants to build a 25- to 35-lip marina to serve guests with boats, but the property is zoned only for residential use. The marina would include a pier 850 feet long and float system that would lie parallel to the breakwater.

Last year, the city added a provision to its zoning ordinance that allows contract zones. Rather than rezoning an area, the contract allows the council to attach specific conditions regulating the new use. Any conditions have the force of law.

The marina proposal has been controversial, with opposition coming from neighbors in the Jameson Point development area, as well as those in the city at large who are concerned about the possible impact the marina would have on access to the breakwater. Many residents enjoy walking the mile-long jetty to the lighthouse.

Samoset officials have pledged to keep access open, but some councilors objected to the set of gates the public must pass between to get to the breakwater. At a recent workshop meeting between the council and Samoset representatives, the resort’s Jim Ash agreed to consider removing the gates.

Ash also agreed to have the resort consider granting the public access to a building the Samoset wants to add near the beginning of the breakwater. Drinks may be served at the building, which is to be modeled on a fog bell tower.

City Manager Tom Hall said the recent give-and-take between councilors who have been opposed to the proposal and the resort consultants broke open a logjam. A majority of councilors appears to be favorably disposed to approving the marina, if the Samoset agrees to further conditions.

Among the conditions the Samoset has already agreed to are: no fuel will be sold at the marina or from nearby floats; the use of generators by boat owners will be prohibited; septic pumping from boats into facilities at the marina will be required; a 100-foot-wide channel between the marina and the breakwater will be marked; and the Samoset and the city will work together to develop a safe anchorage area near the marina for passenger schooners.

The council may pass a draft of an agreement tonight in its first reading, or continue to develop a list of conditions under which it would approve the agreement.

The city planning commission heard extensive public comment on the proposed marina, with more people speaking against the project than in favor of it late last year. If the council agrees to create the contract zone, the planning commission would review the project, as would the state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.