KINGFIELD — A group of residents presented a petition last week to the Board of Selectmen requesting a moratorium ordinance on transient overnight recreational developments.
The petition targets Bowdoin College’s proposed campsite at the Finnegan McCoul Woodruff Mountain Center.
At a May 4 board meeting, residents and members of road associations abutting the property voiced opposition to the project. Many said they support the concept but believe Kingfield is the wrong location.
During a two‑hour public hearing May 7, residents pressed their concerns about noise and safety more forcefully.
Terri D’Amato, who has lived on Iron Bridge Road for 17 years, said she and her husband oppose the campsite.
“This is not the area for trucks hauling trailers and vans with students,” she said. “The guardrail will not keep you out of the Carrabassett (River) if it’s an icy night.”
Bowdoin officials responded that the college is willing to pay an annual allowance to Kingfield for additional road and bridge maintenance to address safety concerns.
Bowdoin’s proposal calls for year-round access to seven gravel campsites that would allow up to 28 tents, or 84 students plus staff members, at full capacity. The campsites would occupy 1.8 acres of the 20.7‑acre property and include a 950‑square‑foot picnic area and a 600‑square‑foot sanitary building with a vault toilet and septic system. The plan also calls for staggering vehicle departures to ease traffic on the road.
Residents who oppose the project said they fear increased vehicle hazards at the Route 27 and Iron Bridge Road intersection, on the bridge itself, and along the steep, icy approach to the proposed site in winter.
Resident Adam Craig presented the petition, which includes 85 signatures asking the town to place a moratorium ordinance on transient overnight recreational developments on a future warrant.
State law requires selectmen to act on such a petition when it is signed by at least 10 percent of the number of voters who cast ballots in the last gubernatorial election. The process is outlined in Title 30-A M.R.S. Section 2522 of Maine statutes.
According to state law, when a written petition is signed by at least 10 percent of the number of voters who cast ballots in the town during the last gubernatorial election — but not fewer than 10 voters — selectmen must either place the requested article on the next town meeting warrant or call a special town meeting within 60 days to consider it.
The petition requesting a moratorium includes 85 signatures, equal to 11.39 percent of the votes cast in Kingfield during the last gubernatorial election.
The petition defines a transient overnight recreational development as “a form of organized camping and recreation, involving accommodation and facilitated similar to, but distant from, those associated with a campground.”
If passed, the ordinance would impose a moratorium prohibiting the development or operation of any transient overnight recreational developments, including campgrounds, within Kingfield. It would take effect immediately and remain in place for 180 days from the date of passage, unless it is repealed earlier at a duly called town meeting.
The Board of Selectmen could extend the moratorium for additional 180‑day periods, but each extension would require public notice, a hearing and a determination that a continued need exists.
A moratorium would also bar all town officials, employees, boards and bodies, including the Planning Board, Board of Appeals and code enforcement officer, from accepting, processing or approving any applications, permits, plans, licenses or fees related to these types of developments.
Issues of greatest concern voiced by residents include noise, fire and smoke. Residents also raised safety and traffic worries tied to the privately owned access point on Iron Bridge Road off Route 27, as well as broader infrastructure concerns.
Another major point of contention is that the Brunswick liberal arts college, as a nonprofit institution, would not pay taxes on the property.
Thursday’s public meeting drew a full room of residents, town officials, Bowdoin College representatives and employees of Sebago Technics, the South Portland firm hired to complete the project.
Bowdoin is expected to have an opportunity to respond to concerns raised during the hearing when the Planning Board meets May 12 to take up the application.
At the hearing, John Simoneau, Bowdoin’s director of capital projects, presented a supplemental packet responding to concerns raised at the May 4 Board of Selectmen meeting.
The packet included a legal opinion from lawyer Juliet T. Browne of Verrill Dana stating that, under the current zoning ordinance for the R1 district, the proposed campsite does not qualify as “transient overnight recreation” or congregate housing, and that R1 zoning allows lodges, community buildings, hotels, motels and similar facilities.
Bradley Lyon, a transportation engineer at Sebago, said speculation about a larger facility is unfounded and not reflected in Bowdoin’s application, budget, or plans.
He added that enforcing quiet hours and maintaining a chemical‑free experience are priorities for the campsite.
Sebago’s team reviewed earlier Goral Palmer traffic studies of the bridge, which recommended upgrading Iron Bridge Road to two lanes only if two vehicles were likely to meet within a five‑minute window.
After factoring in projected traffic from the Bowdoin campsite, Sebago found that two vehicles would be expected to meet at roughly the 6.9‑minute mark, concluding that a two‑lane upgrade is not warranted at this time.
Sebago also said Maine Department of Transportation methodology does not require designated left‑ or right‑turn lanes on Route 27 based on current traffic levels.
In the college’s proposal, Bowdoin officials said the school is willing to help address safety concerns by providing advance‑warning signage at the Route 27 intersection and signs indicating right of way when crossing the bridge. Because the college does not pay taxes in Kingfield, Bowdoin also said it is willing to work with selectmen on donations to support care and maintenance of the bridge and road. That could include a proportionate share of routine plowing, sanding, roadwork, bridge repairs, and administrative expenses, according to the proposal.
The college also said it is prepared to help fund additional winter sanding, winging snowbanks once or twice per season as needed, biennial vegetation management, gravel repairs, grading, ditching, and other work authorized by Bowdoin’s representative to the road association.
Bowdoin’s proposal includes an initial allowance of $5,000 per year for incremental repair and maintenance work. The proposal states that this amount represents a significant portion of the road association’s current annual operating budget and should allow for meaningful measures to maintain safe road conditions. Any unused funds could be reserved by the road association, up to a maximum of $20,000.
Craig said he and other petitioners want the campsite application denied, asking, “What’s so special about this place that you need to force this through despite these valid concerns?”
An abutter to the site, Craig said he knows how tricky and dangerous the turn at the intersection of Route 27 and Iron Bridge Road is, as well as how close the proposed bathhouse and generator would be to neighboring property.
Craig said, “We can’t unhear, and it’s hard for Bowdoin to unsay,” what he called the college’s “initial grand plans” for the campsite, expressing frustration that those larger plans are now described as no longer in the budget.
He also said there is significant frustration that the first news of the campsite proposal for the outdoor center came through a student newspaper announcement rather than a more formal process.
“It seems like further development is inevitable,” Craig said.
Residents argued that costs for heavy road maintenance will fall on the Lower Iron Bridge Road and Claybrook Road associations, including any future widening of the road.
Tim Hayes, a member of the Lower Iron Bridge Road Association, accused town officials of “kicking the can down the road” if they approve an application that relies on a road whose subdivision standards ordinance has not been updated in more than three decades. He said Iron Bridge Road was never intended to be a public road.
“The town needs to stop giving permits,” he said.
D’Amato, who said she is concerned about vehicles going into the river, argued that even with the college’s plan for staggered egress from the campsite, “if there is a set time for a dinner, etc., the vans will converge on the road at the same time.” She asked that the town and the college hold a “proactive gathering of all parties” before the project is approved, “and not after.”
Another issue raised during the hearing by surrounding landowners was a fear that property values will decrease and that their right to quiet enjoyment and privacy will be affected.
There was also concern about the realistic ability to enforce a chemical‑free and quiet campsite for college students.
Amanda Neuts said planners should be realistic, emphasizing that “college kids don’t listen to ‘no drinking’ or ‘don’t be loud and rowdy’ at night.” She asked whether there is an enforcement plan for violations of the noise and chemical‑use policy, noting that the only penalty in the proposal for violations between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. is removal from the property.
Julie Swain, a member of the Poplar Knoll Association on the opposite side of the proposed development, questioned the two traffic studies on which Bowdoin is relying and who is responsible for maintaining the structure of the bridge.
“You are increasing the risk for taxpayers of this town … their children, their guests,” she said. “It is a lot of burden for that bridge, for our roads, for (Route) 27, for taxpayers as well as visitors to the area.”
Resident Susan Davis suggested that delaying the project might allow road association meetings to take place, saying, “There is some very positive (information) in this material here,” referring to Bowdoin’s permit application.
Bowdoin urged the Planning Board not to deny the permit solely because of existing infrastructure inefficiencies when the college intends to help improve them and did not cause them.
According to the proposal, campers will take all trash with them when leaving the campsite, and firewood use at the site would be less than what people use to heat their homes.
The proposal also states that there will not be a high number of service vehicles because this will be a campsite and not a rustic cabin, and that only Bowdoin vans and vehicles will be approved for access.
Officials said the college will install a locked metal gate at the entrance, and staff members will conduct random drive‑by checks to ensure security.
Bowdoin also noted that property devaluation has not occurred as a result of any of its past off‑campus projects.
As the hearing closed, with both sides expressing frustration, Catherine Martin, a resident of Iron Bridge Road, became emotional as she told Bowdoin Outing Club Director Mike Woodruff, whose late son is the namesake for the project, that “there is no one in this room who doesn’t want you to honor your son.”
“I just think it’s the wrong place,” Martin said. “This is our home. This is where our children come. I want you to have (this) but not next door to me and to our family and to our future.”
