FORT KENT – Snowmobiles will continue to enter the business district after a decision Wednesday night by the planning board.

Near the end of a 31/2-hour hearing, the panel approved use of the Dike Trail.

Built for $135,000 in 2002, the 3,200-foot-long trail allows users of the 19-mile-long Heritage Trail to access the town’s business district.

The trail crosses Route 161 west of town and travels along the flood prevention dike into the heart of the business district.

Wednesday’s planning board hearing involved attorneys for the town seeking approval of the trail and an attorney for Priscilla Staples, an objector to the trail.

Wednesday night’s session was ordered by Superior Court Justice E. Allen Hunter, acting on an appeal by Staples.

He had concluded that there were errors of law in original hearings when the trail was approved.

Staples remained unhappy Thursday, saying the decision did not surprise her.

She said she would withhold any decision on further appeals pending the planning board meeting on a “findings of fact” report being developed by the planning board’s attorney, Rick Solman Jr. of Caribou.

“There is an overwhelming sense in Fort Kent that we have to have snowmobiles and ATVs on Main Street,” she said. “They are ignoring the fact that they pollute with extreme amounts of emissions.”

She contends that a snowmobile emits in one hour as much pollution as 100 automobiles. She said that she has developed asthma, a condition she did not have until her home was surrounded by two snowmobile trails.

She also claims the trails lower property values and have kept tenants from her apartments. One was empty for 11 months.

During a one-hour period last winter, she said, she counted 129 machines going by her home.

“They ignored their own rules, but we will decide what to do after we see the findings of fact,” Staples said. “They had other alternatives for the trail, two over land, without going to the Dike.

“I came to live in Maine because of clean air,” she said. “Now I am stuck between two snowmobile trails.”

Town Manager Donald Guimond knows the planning board’s decision can be appealed. He believes that Wednesday night’s decision will be appealed again.

“We have a permit, and they will review findings of fact next week,” Guimond said. “The trail remains as it is.”

Daniel Nicolas, chairman of the planning board, said the panel is awaiting replies from several state agencies to see if they have any qualms about the matter.

He said the trail also must be inspected once a year for problems that need to be repaired.

Nicolas said Staples was the only person against the plan at Wednesday night’s session.