Associated Press
GREENVILLE (AP) – Plum Creek Timber Co. is considering relocating a proposed resort, scaling back another one and clustering homes closer to Greenville in response to criticism of its original development proposal around Moosehead Lake.
Jim Lehner, Plum Creek’s regional general manager, gave the Greenville Planning Board a glimpse this week of some of the components of the revised proposal, which will be completed by February or March.
“We’ve gone back to the drawing board and are taking a fresh look at how to submit basically a new plan,” Lehner said.
The original plan called for rezoning land around the lake for 975 house lots and campgrounds, along with two resorts. The total project involves 426,000 acres, about 10,000 of which would be developed.
One of the things Plum Creek is trying to do is to identify ways to ensure that roughly 400,000 acres of woodlands will remain forested after the expiration of a 30-year conservation easement in the original plan, Lehner said.
Other changes under consideration include putting more individual house lots closer to Greenville and other developed areas, moving the resort planned for Rockwood closer to Greenville, and scaling back the size of a resort planned for Lily Bay.
Lehner was joined at Wednesday’s meeting by Luke Muzzy, senior land asset manager with Plum Creek. A public hearing is scheduled in Greenville for Jan. 11.
Plum Creek’s proposal has aroused passions both in support and against it.
Supporters describe the project as a thoughtful blend of conservation and development that preserves access to private timberlands for fishing, hunting, hiking and snowmobiling.
Critics have denounced the project as an opening for wilderness sprawl that would threaten the character of an area they regard as the heart and soul of Maine.
