It’s all yours, for a price.

Sloping toward the Meduncook River and the Atlantic beyond, 400 acres of wooded land and pristine shorefront in Cushing are about to be colonized.

For house lots ranging in price from $300,000 to $900,000, maybe more, maybe less, a scrappy Glenburn developer is carving out what he calls three “unique” communities on multi-acre lots offering pier access, common areas, community associations and, as an ad in November’s Down East magazine puts it, sequestered luxury.

Despite decades of upscale development up and down the Maine coast, developer Jim Tower’s plans for Meduncook Bay Colony are stirring the waters around Muscongus Bay.

“Cushing is a territory that’s … just been discovered,” said Scott Bickford, code enforcement officer for Cushing, 10 miles southwest of Rockland with a population of 1,300. “There’s more to come.”

Indeed, Tower’s plans are being scrutinized by the state, some local opponents and the chairman of the Board of Selectmen, who has hunted on the land and worked the area as a lobsterman.

“He seems to have dotted all his i’s and crossed his t’s,” said selectmen Chairman Michael Myrick.

Tower, 58, has been visible and vocal in planning and explaining the development, which is proposed as Meduncook Bay Colony, but with three subdivisions, each with its own name.

“This is not a casino,” Tower said during a recent interview on the acreage. “This is not a nuclear waste dump. How threatening is a well-done, low-density, single-family residential community? If that’s threatening, we better all run someplace and hide.”

Some neighbors – including a few across the river in Friendship – contend Tower’s colony might cause “irreversible destruction” to the health of the river and the lobster and shellfish industries. Among specific concerns are damage to the river from four proposed wharves.

From Tower’s perspective, he’s carefully carving out three communities that will add $40 million to $50 million to Cushing’s assessed valuation once all the homes are built. That would kick in some $500,000 a year in new tax revenue.

Controversy over this land is not new.

In recent years, the privately owned property wound up being called the Cushing Nature and Preservation Center as a result of a previous owner’s tax status. The land was used for retreats and scouting and was open to the public.

In the 1990s, townspeople complained when then-owner Dr. Nile Albright switched the tax status of Advanced Medical Research Foundation to nonprofit under the name Cushing Nature and Preservation Center. Some townspeople contended the maneuver was simply to avoid paying taxes on the land.

The town took the case all the way to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, arguing that the nonprofit organization was not exempt from paying property taxes. The case was dismissed on a technicality (the Nature Center failed to respond to a court order). So the disputed taxes were paid, and soon after the dismissal the property went on the market.

The property was advertised as two parcels, with an $8 million combined market price.

In June, Tower paid a total of $6.5 million for the 130-acre and 260-acre tracts.

The Houlton native and owner of Engineering Dynamics Inc. of Bangor had grand plans for three communities: Gaunt Neck, Meduncook Point and Hornbarn Hill.

The Cushing Planning Board approved Gaunt Neck and Hornbarn Hill without allowing public comment, which rankled some residents and neighbors. The board held an after-the-fact comment session.

The planning board chairman did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Gaunt Neck and Meduncook Point are being established on the 260-acre parcel, and Hornbarn Hill is planned for the smaller plot. “Initial offerings in Hornbarn Hill and the exclusive Gaunt Neck communities are available at prices ranging from $300,000 to $900,000,” says the Down East ad.

. Gaunt Neck is nearly surrounded by water and all lots have water frontage on either Hornbarn Cove or Meduncook River. Tower has kept a separate 26 acres here for his family. The family land has several existing buildings, which he plans to renovate, and a ramshackle pier he wants to replace.

. Hornbarn Hill, which has 13 approved lots, will be built on the 130-acre tract. There are four additional lots proposed for later. Ten of the approved lots are waterfront parcels along the cove.

. Meduncook Point is pending approval for 21 lots. Most of those lots are riverfront parcels, with a few along the cove.

Nearly 200 acres is set aside in common areas, to which the public – not just residents – would have limited access. Tower said he is also working to place the undeveloped land into a conservation easement with a land trust.

Each subdivision has similar covenants but none allow mobile homes. Modular homes are allowed but certain architectural styles are prohibited, including Italianate, Spanish Colonial, ranch, split level or garrison.

Home size is also dictated. In Gaunt Neck single story homes must contain at least 1,800 square feet and multi-story residences must contain 2,500 square feet of habitable area.

Other subdivisions can include slightly smaller homes. Several lots are under contract.

The first wave of opposition came from a group calling itself ACCORD, an acronym for Associated Citizens of Cushing Organized for Responsible Development. The group sought a moratorium on subdivisions and filed an appeal of the planning board’s approval of Hornbarn Hill and Gaunt Neck.

Recent resistance came in the form of a 200-signature letter to Gov. John Baldacci from Cushing and Friendship residents who urged his intervention “to protect the waters of Muscongus Bay and estuaries, which are the economic lifeblood of the region.” The letter specifically refers to the “intense development of 400-plus acres,” meaning Tower’s projects.

The governor has received the letter, a spokesman said, and has asked staff member Dick Davies to work with the state Department of Environmental Protection and report back to him.

The letter was written by William Zuber and William Hallstein, both of Friendship, and Marilyn Clark Barnum of Cushing.

“The chance that irreversible destruction will occur is a chance that we the undersigned are not willing to take,” they wrote.

“We really felt the river needed a voice,” Hallstein said in a recent telephone interview from his home in Woods Hole, Mass.

The state has splintered authorities, which are not looking at the overall impact of the colony, Hallstein said, referring to the various governmental agencies that handled different aspects of the development, such as DEP’s many bureaus, the departments of Marine Resources and Health and Human Services, and the Army Corps of Engineers.

“You get lost in all this stuff,” Hallstein said.

Now that the third subdivision – Meduncook Point – is seeking approval and is contiguous with Gaunt Neck, DEP is requiring both subdivisions to meet the standards for a “site location of development permit,” said Lisa-Kay Keen, project manager for DEP.

More than 15 lots or 30 acres in a subdivision trigger that, she said. Tower argues that there is an exception for single-family residential subdivisions.

Tower’s application is pending, Keen said, and approval involves a public hearing and 24 findings, including financial and technical capability, groundwater and surface water quality, stormwater standards, noise review and air quality. DEP does not assess traffic impact, she said.

Four applications for docks are pending, three of which would measure 125 feet long by 6 feet wide with 40-foot ramps and 16-foot-by-20-foot floats. The existing dock off the family parcel would be replaced with a 165-foot pier.

“Docks change the behavior of rivers [and] raise a lot of havoc with shellfish,” said Hallstein.

But DEP’s Keen said Tower is “working very well with us.”

The only violation DEP has found, she said, is that Tower started construction before obtaining a stormwater permit for Gaunt Neck. He now has the permit, she said.

“He contends he’s not in violation,” DEP’s Judy Gates said, noting that Tower argues he was “practicing forest management.”

“He cut too soon,” she said.

Bickford, the code enforcement officer, said he has under review concerns about Tower’s tree-cutting, but has not cited any violations.

“We have left more than the minimums [for tree-cutting],” Tower said. “What we’ve done is take out the dead and dying.”

The “scenic and cumulative” impact of the piers may result in DEP allowing fewer piers than requested, Keen said.

During a recent tour of the property, Tower described Meduncook Bay Colony as being divided into “commonly accepted size lots.”

“We’re developing [the land] into the same type of community you see in Friendship,” he said pointing across the river to waterfront homes, some of which have large piers. “But they were here first.”

One of those waterfront homes in Friendship is Hallstein’s, which he bought in late July 2004. The property is located in a subdivision on Meduncook Drive with a clear view of Tower’s project. Zuber also owns waterfront acreage across the river from Meduncook Bay Colony, but his home is tucked inside Back River on Tideview Lane, where it appears not to have a view of the Cushing development.

In a settlement with ACCORD, Tower agreed to develop no more than 62 lots in the entire tract and not to build near the top of Hornbarn Hill, the site of the properties’ highest geographical feature, which offers spectacular water views.

In negotiations, 17 house lots, which Tower planned to sell for $35,000 to $40,000 each, were eliminated when ACCORD insisted lots be cut, he said. After telling the group those were the least profitable lots, he said, “they slashed them off the map without a bat of an eye.”

So the cheapest lots in price were the first to go in the planning.

“We did not specify which lots to cut,” ACCORD member Marilyn Clark Barnum, said. “Cutting a $900,000 lot would have been fine.”

When the planning board reviewed and approved Tower’s first two subdivisions, “it was done strictly by the book,” board member Evelyn Kalloch said recently.

Still, residents remain concerned about the project.

“We’re coming from where everybody else in Maine is,” ACCORD’s Barnum said. “It’s the gas thing, gravel pits – we’ve got to work together so we save our little earth.”

Tower estimates the value added to the town will be $40 million to $50 million when all lots are sold and homes built. Based on the 2004 tax rate of $10.37, tax revenues would increase by $414,800 to $518,500.

In 2002, the property was valued at $2.5 million in court records. About that time, the land and several buildings were generating about $20,000 a year in taxes.

Tower said he expects most buyers will be retirees with no school-aged children. Also, each homeowners’ association will be responsible for maintaining the roads and common areas through annual association dues.

“I believe we’re never more than stewards of the land,” Tower said. “You never own land. You buy land. You always leave this land in better condition than you found it.”

Myrick, chairman of selectmen, said selectmen agree with the idea that Meduncook Bay Colony would make minimal demand on town services.

Still, Myrick said, “It’s a shame to see that land used up.” He and others have hunted on the property for years.

As a lobsterman, Myrick said, he hopes Tower’s and others’ developments will be closely watched for their effects on the waterfront.

“The reality is: Development hits everywhere.”