Proposed green resort in Maine has some seeing red

WINTER HARBOR, Maine (AP) - On paper, the development here in eastern Maine sounds like a dream for people looking to get away from it all.

Located on 3,300 acres of remote wildlands on pristine Schoodic Peninsula, the project would create a green community where homeowners and visitors would enjoy views of ocean waters and mountains rising up from the sea five miles away on Mount Desert Island.

But some conservation groups and officials at adjacent Acadia National Park say the plan is out of scale and out of character with the unspoiled peninsula, known for its rugged pink-granite coastline and breathtaking views.

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"The vision is to figure out how to re-establish the connection between individuals and their natural environments - and reconnect families in the process," said Mike Saxl, spokesman for the Winter Harbor Properties investment group that's proposing the development.

But the sheer size of the project and unanswered questions concern Sheridan Steele, superintendent of Acadia National Park. The park, most of which is on Mount Desert Island across Frenchman Bay, has about 2,200 acres on Schoodic Peninsula.

Steele said he was told the number of homes to be built could range anywhere between 100 to 1,000.

"If it's 1,000 homes, just think of that," Steele said. "Think of the traffic and the noise and light. Until we know how many houses are being proposed, it's hard to know what the impact will be."

Winter Harbor Properties is made up of more than 20 investors, mostly from Europe, said Cecelia Ward, who lives in south Florida and is overseeing the project.

The development has been in the works for 2 1/2 years and calls for clusters of housing lots, two upscale hotels with restaurants, and a golf course billed as environmentally friendly.

But it's the environment that's being touted as the heart of the plan. A large "green corridor" down the middle of the property would remain undeveloped, and residents could visit four nature centers placed about the property focusing on birds, mammals, vernal pools, native plants, beavers and marine life.

Besides learning about the environment, people would be able to interact with it, Ward said. For instance, they might help rehabilitate injured birds or track animals.

The homes would continue the green theme with solar power and green septic systems, and they'd be designed to blend in with the surroundings, she said.

The debate over the proposal has spurred some of the same dialogue now playing out over a development proposal around Moosehead Lake in western Maine, where Plum Creek Timber Co. wants to create the largest subdivision ever in the state.

Over breakfast at Chase's Restaurant, the only year-round eatery in Winter Harbor, Jim Chipman said the development would bring jobs and money and expand the tax base.

"They own the land, and they can do what they want with it," said Chipman, a 65-year-old carpenter.

But at the counter nearby, Earle Cowperthwaite Jr. said the development would only end up being a burden on the towns while taking away from hunting on land where deer and moose live. The region, he agreed, has needed some sort of economic stimulus since the Navy closed a base here in 2002; but a seasonal resort isn't the answer, he said.

"We need a business to keep people here, not drive people away," said Cowperthwaite, 58, a wood cutter who also deals in scrap metal.

It's more than just locals chiming in.

The development threatens one of the largest unfragmented parcels along the Maine coast, providing habitat corridors for plants and wildlife to carry on without interruption, said Marla O'Byrne, president and CEO of the Friends of Acadia group.

And while it's laudable for the investors to present their vision before filing plans with municipal or state agencies, she said there are too many unanswered questions about the project and the investors who are proposing it.

The land was bought by Bruno Modena and his son, Vittorio, in the early 1980s, said Saxl. They made headlines in the mid-1990s when they harvested timber from the property, but little else has been said publicly about them.

The Modenas are businessmen from Italy, with various real estate and property management ventures. But Ward declined to give more information, saying the Modenas are merely two people in an investment group who want to keep a low profile.

A Milan-based developer named Bruno Modena contacted by The Associated Press denied owning any land on the Schoodic Peninsula or being involved in the development project.

O'Byrne and other would like to know that their concerns are being heard.

"It's a little difficult when you don't have direct contact with the landowners," she said. "It's a one-step-removed dialogue."

Stephanie Clement, the conservation director for Friends of Acadia, is concerned that the development would harm the habitat, mar the views and negatively impact the dark night skies where people can seemingly see millions of stars.

From atop Schoodic Head, Clement points out where one of the hotels would be and where some of the housing would be clustered.

"This is a significant change - whether you like it or not," Clement said.

Ward, Saxl and others representing Winter Harbor Properties have been meeting with town officials, conservationists and residents to discuss the project. "We want to be a good neighbor and partner and we're trying to find ways to do that," Saxl said.

AP writer Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this story.