More than challenges, crises are opportunities
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Conservation easements come in all shapes and sizes. And while managing any easement is challenging, managing one that allows for development is especially so.
Penny Asherman is president of the board at the Chebeague and Cumberland Land Trust.
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Conservation easements come in all shapes and sizes. And while managing any easement is challenging, managing one that allows for development is especially so.
In 1997, the accredited Chebeague and Cumberland Land Trust entered into an agreement with a family to place a conservation easement on its 100-acre oceanfront estate. While the easement allowed for development, nothing substantial happened along those lines for nearly two decades. In 2014, though, the question of how to manage development of the property came dramatically to the forefront.
That was when the family sold their land to a developer. The developer agreed to sell 25 of the 100 acres to the town of Cumberland in order to create a park that would include the only public access to the shore in the town. But the plan proved controversial. Some neighbors were angry. Others were delighted at the prospect of the park and its recreational opportunities.
Quickly, the matter became all-consuming for us. For months, our meetings were dominated by deliberations as we meticulously reviewed the plans and compared them to the easement's conditions. We approved some ideas and denied others. Our president and other board members attended countless public meetings to explain our role and describe the easement. And at one point, the family sued us and the town.
It was a crisis well beyond anything our land trust had ever been through.
Now, three years after the sale, Broad Cove Reserve is open. Residents are enthusiastic about having access to the shore. The reserve is a regular stop on our popular nature walk series. Homes are being built according to terms of the easement. And that lawsuit? The Maine Law Court, the state's highest court, ruled in our favor.
There's no denying the experience was physically and emotionally exhausting! But it had its benefits: raising our community profile and enhancing our credibility. It also affirmed to us that crises aren't just challenges.
They’re opportunities.