Select Board delays vote on proposed Poland Range Road conservation easement amid zoning, municipal‑use questions

Robert Van Milligan, a member of the Conservation Commission, asked the Select Board on March 9 to place four town‑owned parcels (Map 002, Lots 27, 28, 30 and 32) in a conservation easement with the Royal River Conservation Trust. Van Milligan said the commission is "not asking for money" and listed four reasons for the request: the agreement was developed with abutters and user groups, the easement would mirror a prior easement on Elmwood Road and align with the town’s comprehensive plan, periodic selective timber harvest could generate revenue for the town, and the parcels overlie one of Pownal’s sand‑and‑gravel aquifers, making protection important for future drinking‑water and fire‑suppression needs.

The State‑registered Royal River Conservation Trust representative Chris Franklin said much of the property is wetlands and that development restrictions are intended to protect those resources; he added that the portion currently used by Public Works for material storage would be excluded from restrictions if written into the warrant language. Fire Chief Jesse Peters asked whether the easement would prohibit future municipal construction on the parcels, and he recommended including a municipal‑use provision if the town expects to reserve any of the lots for municipal needs.

Resident Shane Brady said the proposed easement could affect the town’s mobile‑home zoning overlay and cautioned that State statute requires municipalities to maintain some land zoned for mobile homes. Town Administrator Becky Taylor‑Chase confirmed the proposed easement would have an effect on the town’s mobile‑home overlay and that a zoning ordinance addressing the overlay is under development.

Because of these outstanding questions — how to preserve Public Works access, whether a municipal‑use exemption should be written into the easement, and whether companion zoning language will be ready — Chair Jon Morris asked that the Conservation Commission’s warrant article be drafted and returned to the Board for review on March 23. Selectperson Kate Day then moved to table the Board’s vote on placing the easement article on the June Annual Town Meeting warrant; Selectperson George Pottle seconded. The Board did not finalize the easement article that night and directed additional drafting and legal review before asking voters to decide.

The Board’s next step is a March 23 review of drafted warrant language; if the companion mobile‑home overlay ordinance is not ready, Maine statutory requirements may require delaying the conservation‑easement question until the Town can present consistent zoning language to voters.