By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

CASCO — A few residents had issues with the conceptual drawings for some areas of town that are included in the proposed Casco Comprehensive Plan.

The verbalized concerns were that the drawings showed residential development in areas where the ecosystem wouldn’t support it, such as places designated as wetlands.

Other people said the comp plan drawings were not literal, but guidelines as to what could go there if people in town so desired.

It was stressed that each step of the way, any time a proposed project or zone change or use change was brought forward, the citizens of Casco had the ultimate say-so through town meeting vote.

On Tuesday, more than fifty people attended the public hearing for the Casco comp plan. Those in attendance either took part in or listened to an hour-long discussion. The hearing was a joint meeting of the Casco Select Board and the Casco Planning Board. Members of the Casco Comp Plan Steering Committee, which was formed in March/April 2022, were on hand, too.

In the end, the planning board voted, 4-0, to recommend that the comp plan document go to special town meeting. So, the comp plan moves forward with a recommendation; but it will be up to the select board to approve making it a warrant article and setting a date for town meeting.

Hearing: Time to speak out

On Tuesday night, the first person to step to the microphone and speak was Casco resident and small business-owner Carol Drew. She specifically addressed Watkins Flats along Roosevelt Trail in South Casco.

“I have read the comp plan draft several times. Talk about boring, but I have,” she began.

“Landownership is a priviledge and comes with responsibility to maintain and keep the land healthy and prosperous. The land I own, over 100 acres, has been in our family since 1800s. I continue to maintain and keep the land healthy and prosperous through a land-management plan and personal caretaking,” Drew said.

“With this draft of the comprehensive plan, Watkins Flat has been designated as an area to have an ‘Agricultural Neighborhood Special District.’ The language of the comp plan does state that a portion of the flats is an Aquifer Protection District. There is also a deer wintering area as designated by the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife,” she said. “With the map that was included in the plan as an ‘expression of ideas’ for the special district, the design shows two additional entrances on the corner of Route 302. That side of Route 302 is in aquifer protection and has ditch line behind it that feeds directly into the Crooked River. On the opposite side of 302, where the garden center sits, the design shows multiple homes lining a portion of the tree line on my property. This land is designated wetland from a recent survey done on the property.”

She couldn’t believe that such a dense development of homes would be a good idea in wetlands. Additionally, it wasn’t a sound idea to introduce more traffic to that stretch of Roosevelt Trail, where accidents and fatalities have occurred, she said.

“I feel that this portion of the plan was an irresponsible approach to any moving forward for Casco,” Drew said.

Drew said it was a waste of town’s time, resources and money.

Another woman, planning board alternate Michele Williams, worried about the comp plan’s suggestion to make the area around Thomas Pond a P-1 village district, which would allow for limited growth and increased density.

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has listed Thomas Pond as a local point source [lake pollution] at risk from new development, she said. Plus, Thomas Pond feeds directly into Sebago Lake, she said.

“This may be one of those things that should be changed so that the health of Thomas Pond could be protected, because of the very precarious situation,” Williams said.

At that point, resident Jeffrey Raymond, who serves on the Casco Open Space Commission, spoke.

“This is the framework for solutions and ideas for the townspeople. This is a framework plan, an idea, a concept to help guide us forward,” Raymond said.

Resident Tom McCarthy spoke next.

“The concerns I have with plan — You just heard two major areas where there are significant issues. Both Casco Flats and Thomas Pond have incorrect information,” he said.

He asked how the town could use a flawed comp plan as the foundation for major decisions.

“I don’t think this plan is ready to go to vote at town meeting with errors,” McCarthy said.

How changes might unfold 

Planning board member Tuan Nguyen explained how the plan would be used.

Essentially, the existing ordinances that protect shoreland and wetland zones would still exist and trump any sketches presented in the plan, he said. He said since the Watkins Flats is under private ownership, it is up to the landowner if he or she wants to develop the land.

“That is not how I read the Watkins Flats part,” Nguyen said. “The comp plan is taking everything into consideration. I didn’t look at it as saying, ‘Put this giant neighborhood in this exact spot.’ It is not, ‘Hey let’s blow up the population of South Casco.’ Instead, it is ‘What can we do to face the growth we are facing in a way that is responsible to the land and waters?”

He said he interpreted the sketches as “an example of what some zoning changes would look like drawn out.”

Select board chairman Scott Avery tried to alleviate Drew’s concerns — saying he also owned a large acreage of land, which in the comp plan has illustrations of possible future development in that spot.

“If I really looked at the drawings of Pike’s Corner, I would have a heart attack,” he said.

The drawings are not set in stone — just ideas, he said. Currently, the town’s ordinances do not protect it from certain development, he said. 

“We are the Wild West in Casco. If Dollar General wanted to put by the town hall at Pike’s Corner, it could,” Avery said.

The mission statement is listed on the town’s website: “The Casco Comp Plan is a planning document that describes and inventories town features and resources, and establishes a plan and direction for future town processes and activities. The Plan does not establish any new regulations or standards and does not approve new spending. The recommended policies in the Plan are conceptual and broad  . . .  The Plan, in and of itself, has no regulatory force.”

Prior to the vote, one selectman gave his closing thoughts.

“This isn’t the end of your voice. This is the beginning of your voice. I hope people will recognize that and work with us,” Selectman Eugene Connolly said.