Moosehead region to hold subdivision hearing

Residents of the Moosehead Lake region will have an opportunity this Wednesday to comment on a proposal for a 31-lot subdivision in the town of Beaver Cove.

Burnt Jacket LLC is seeking authorization from the Land Use Regulation Commission to rezone 271 acres in Beaver Cove for 16 shorefront homes and 15 homes on wooded lots. The developer, Hank McPherson of Hermon, said nearly 200 acres would remain as “green space.”

LURC will hold a public hearing on McPherson’s application at 6 p.m. Aug. 1 in the Beaver Cove town office. The commission will hold a work session with intervening parties at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 2.

This is the second time that LURC has considered an application from McPherson to rezone land that he owns on Burnt Jacket peninsula, which is located along the shores of Moosehead Lake between Greenville and Lily Bay State Park.

In June 2006, LURC rejected a petition from McPherson to rezone 246 acres on the peninsula for a 70-lot subdivision. The two primary reasons the commission gave for the rejection were that the subdivision was deemed too far from existing development and that the proposal failed to conserve and protect the natural qualities of the area.

McPherson said his new application is “miles apart” from the first.

The second application contains less than half the number of proposed houses and those lots are now located adjacent to an area already zoned for development. There are seasonal and year-round houses as well as a commercial marina nearby.

McPherson subsequently moved some of the shorefront lots away from the water and made other adjustments.

“We made quite a few changes along the way at the suggestion of the LURC staff,” McPherson said Sunday evening.

LURC has recognized three groups as intervening parties in the Burnt Jacket review process: the Natural Resources Council of Maine, the Moosehead Region Futures Committee, and a group of neighbors.

The Moosehead Region Futures Committee and the group of neighbors both expressed strong concerns in letters to LURC about the need for and impacts of the development. NRCM did not state its position on the application in its letter seeking intervenor status. The organization opposed McPherson’s first petition.

McPherson said he has worked to address some of the concerns expressed by intervenors. One of the biggest concerns is whether McPherson plans additional development on the 1,700-plus acres he owns.

That all depends on how things go with the current plan, McPherson said.

“I’m not saying it’s definitely going to happen because it’s been a long road,” he said. “If we get a zone change and a subdivision approved, our attitude is we are going to create something there that the local community can be proud of.”

If the current plan works out well, he may return with more proposed development, McPherson said.