Neighbors press Ellsworth Planning Board over 28‑site Anchor Inn RV campground; board finds application complete and schedules site visit

The Ellsworth Planning Board on a preliminary application hearing considered a proposal by Superior Realty Inc. for a 28‑site Anchor Inn RV campground at 566 Bayside Road, drawing strong public opposition and detailed technical questioning from staff and board members.

Developer Steve Salisbury, representing Harrick and Salisbury, told the board the design includes 28 self‑contained RV sites with individual water, sewer and electric hookups, stormwater treatment beds at the site edges and a single two‑way entrance off Bayside Road that the state transportation review found acceptable. “We’re gonna go with underground power…with 28 sites, I would expect at least two transformers,” Salisbury said, and added that the project anticipates two wells with “neither well will supply more than 2,000 gallons per day.”

Neighbors and board members said the project represents a major change for the adjacent Alton Avenue neighborhood and pressed for more analysis and safeguards. Kelly Brackett, who said a petition opposing the plan was signed by 39 Alton Avenue households, asked the board to compare the proposal to the city’s 2025 comprehensive plan and to consider alternative locations: “This proposal represents a major shift in land use and neighborhood character,” she said, urging a site visit and more work before any approval.

Speakers raised a string of technical and community concerns. Residents and technical commenters asked whether recent tree clearing on the property complied with the city’s wooded‑area protections and whether the state Department of Environmental Protection had an open inquiry; one resident said the clearing appears to have been done without neighbor notice. Several speakers flagged groundwater and wastewater questions: an engineering note in the packet said an existing septic could serve limited uses, while public testimony cited a discrepancy between a study that reported 990 gallons per day capacity and a design estimate that showed up to about 1,950 gallons per day. Amy Faber, who identified herself as a nearby resident, urged a hydrogeologic pump test and other analysis to show the aquifer can support the campground during drought conditions.

Traffic and safety were recurring themes. Board members asked the applicant to improve trip‑generation analysis for RV traffic and suggested field counts at comparable facilities; neighbors emphasized that Bayside Road lacks shoulders and is heavily used by pedestrians, school bus stops and local residents. Other questions covered setbacks and buffering (the applicant said sites would be no closer than 75 feet to the back property boundary abutting Alton Avenue), stormwater treatment details, photometric lighting plans and on‑site management and security during both the operating season and the off‑season.

The public hearing produced repeated requests for a moratorium on campground approvals in rural zones until the pending ordinance revisions are complete; the board and city attorney explained that a moratorium would have to come from the City Council and suggested residents pursue council engagement and formal petitions if they wished to pursue that route.

Procedurally, the board voted to find the Anchor Inn application complete for the purposes of preliminary review — a determination the board and staff emphasized is not a final approval but a finding that the submission meets the city's checklist for a preliminary application. The motion to accept the major‑use site development application as complete was moved, seconded and approved by the board. After that vote the board also agreed to schedule a publicly noticed site visit so members can inspect the property in the field; staff proposed July 20 and July 21 (with a July 27 backup) as candidate dates and said official notice would be published and mailed to abutters.

Next steps: the applicant will supply missing or clarified materials requested by staff (financial capacity letter, updated plan sheets showing setback lines and flow arrows, completed stormwater and septic documentation), the board will hold a posted site visit, and the project will return to the board for a final completeness/approval hearing after staff and applicant responses are filed.