Bangor marsh is worth saving

The Maine Audubon Society vehemently opposes paving over the Penjajawoc Marsh ecosystem to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter, but the Bangor city manager and council have a point.

We agree that Maine’s method of funding municipal government has created a disparity in local tax rates. Bangor bears the costs of being a regional service center, even though much of its developed property is tax exempt. We can understand why some city officials view rampant development as Bangor’s only tool and why they would think they must fund our schools with pavement.

Maine Audubon is pro-Penjajawoc, not anti-Wal-Mart. Some Audubon members are privately in sympathy with the additional arguments against Wal-Mart proffered by BACORD, but Audubon finds the scientific and economic arguments for preserving the Penjajawoc ecosystem compelling enough. There is evidence that it offers more economic value and a better vision of Bangor’s future unpaved.

At a recent forum, City Manager Ed Barrett argued that the tax rate disparity causes outward migration and anti-environmental sprawl. Audubon argues that congestion and over-development cause even worse desertion. To test the competing theories in your own mind, imagine completely paving over Glenburn, dropping the mil rate to $5, and then consider if anyone would live there.

The Bangor City Council proposes to test the theory for real by going ahead with the proposed development, adding a thousand cars an hour to Stillwater Avenue, and then praying that Bangor doesn’t begin to lose property taxes as the annoyed neighbors move out of the area. In truth, both theories have merit and it’s a good wager that BACORD, Maine Audubon, and the city can find common ground if the headlong rush to pave does not overtake the dialogue.

Ironically, city government has done a spectacular job of revitalizing the downtown area. It has given people a lot of reasons to return and live here. We hope the council can now see the wisdom of not negating its own efforts.

Not only is the future of the Penjajawoc marsh ecosystem worth hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in tax revenue through improved property values, retained residential population, and attraction of compatible development, it may also be the key to drawing millions of more dollars to the community.

Every year, thousands of people visit the state looking for the “Maine experience.” Most drive right by Bangor. Yet, here is one of the state’s best treasures, conveniently located right near the mall, easily accessible from the highway. Though we have nothing against Wal-Mart, we do find a dollar brought into Bangor from out of state preferable to one brought in from Hermon.

We do find a dollar brought in by eco-tourism preferable to a dollar brought in by Wal-Mart, 90 cents of which is then sent off to Bentonville, Ark. The value of the Penjajawoc is not just aesthetic; it’s real money. We grant that city planners 10 years ago did not know what they had, but which wise city planner would choose to pave it now?

Ultimately, this debate is not about Bangor’s economy. It’s about property taxes. We are Bangor’s allies in searching for a better solution. Meanwhile, we ask city government to discontinue the argument that it’s too late – that the time to speak up was 10 years ago when the comprehensive plan was drawn up.

Ten years ago there were no big box stores, no threat that a single out-of-state developer could create its own 18-acre asphalt cap, impermeable to rainwater, right next to a rare and significant wetland. Ten years ago no agency and few citizens knew how significant and unusual the Penjajawoc Marsh really was. Times have changed and we invite the council to freshen its thinking.

We also ask the Bangor city government to protect our community’s rights. It should challenge Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Hjelm’s creation of a Constitutional right to bulldoze unconcerned by collateral damage to the surrounding ecosystem. So long as Wal-Mart expects to use community streets, water, sewer, and services, then it is a part of this community and property rights must be in balance with community rights.

If the city has a right to prevent the location of a strip club near a church, presumably it has a right to prevent a monolith of concrete and asphalt on top of an environmentally sensitive area.

It may be in the final analysis that Bangor citizens are willing to forsake the Penjajawoc and its economic potential for the sake of saving 10 cents on toothpaste. Regardless, this is the last time we will have this debate.

After the Penjajawoc is gone, there is no other place near Bangor to apply the lessons of this experience. It truly is unique.

Bob Duchesne is president of the Maine Audubon Society’s Penobscot Valley Chapter.