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Abutter urges timing limits as Eliot panel reviews proposed 419 River Road pier
Summary
At a May 6 meeting the commission discussed a dock application for 419 River Road; the applicant’s engineer said DEP/US Army Corps permitting usually addresses habitat concerns, while an abutter asked that construction avoid horseshoe crab spawning and commissioners sought DMR/IF&W input.
The Eliot Conservation Commission discussed a proposed dock and floats for a property at 419 River Road on May 6 and heard concerns from a nearby resident about potential impacts to horseshoe crab spawning.
Ken Woods of Attar Engineering spoke for the applicant and said permitting typically follows federal and state review (U.S. Army Corps and Maine Department of Environmental Protection). He noted there are roughly 17 piers in the immediate area and cited a prior pier review that recommended elevated floats on legs to keep floats off the seabed at low water.
Chair Peter Egelston recused himself from the 419 River Road conversation. Abutter Jen Prescott said she has lived at the site since 2017 and that horseshoe crabs now spawn in the spring where previously there were none. "I have lived there since 2017, and there were no horseshoe crabs at the time, but now there are some that spawn in the spring," Prescott said, asking that construction avoid spawning periods.
Commissioners discussed options to reduce impacts. Vice Chair Kari Moore and member Tara Treichel asked whether a seasonal time-of-year restriction could be added to construction and whether moorings might be a less damaging alternative to fixed floats; Ken Woods said moorings raise access issues for the applicant but that he could seek comments from DEP and the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W). Woods offered a site walk and said float components are typically removed for winter, with gangways and floats craned ashore by contractors in the fall.
The commission indicated it will likely prepare a memo or comment and pursue agency feedback from DMR and IF&W before finalizing a recommendation to the DEP project manager. No formal vote on the pier was taken at the meeting.
