Letter from Joyce Butler about grist mill construction

JOYCE BUTLER

P. O. Box 94

5 Durrell’s Bridge Road

Kennebunk, Maine 04043

207-985-4878

jmkb2@roadrunner.com

 

June 6, 2015

TO: Whom it may concern

RE: Kennebunkport Land Trust proposal for use of the former Olde Grist Mill restaurant site, Mill Lane

I am writing to affirm my objections (see my 9/17/2014 e-mail to Tom Bradbury) to the KLT’s proposal to erect an imported—from Texas ?—gristmill on the site.  Although I am not a resident of Kennebunkport, as the author of Kennebunkport: The Evolution of an American Town, 1603-2003, which was published in 2013, I assume my interest in this matter is justified.  Also, to further justify my interest, I can tell you that I lived from 1959 to 1962 in the former Clemmie Clark house that then stood on the rise of land next to the mill/restaurant; thus, I am familiar with that section of Kennebunkport and have a sense of the negative impact on the surrounding neighborhood of what will essentially be a tourist attraction.

I have been assured by Mr. Bradbury that the Trust has the money to carry through this project; but, having the money to do something does not mean it should be done.   As a member of the Trust, it seems to me the money would be better spent on preserving more open space in Kennebunkport and maintaining the various properties the Trust already owns, including a number of buildings.

It seems to me that if the Trust wishes to direct attention to the history of the Mill Lane site this could be done with a modest billboard or plaque on a monument with a photo of the Perkins gristmill and text describing its history.  Also, if the Trust wishes to educate the public on how a gristmill works this could be done with a slide/power point program at its headquarters building or perhaps at the Community House on Temple Street.

The importance today of the Mill Lane site is in the views and access to the river it provides.  Both amenities are sorely needed.

I am also seriously concerned about the negative impact of the Trust’s plan, even in its scaled down version, on the surrounding neighborhood and its residents’ quality of life.  This has been clearly spelled out by them and does not need reiteration here;  but, I ask, at what point does the quality of life of residents of Kennebunkport take precedence over the entertainment of tourists?

The negative impact of tourism on Kennebunkport’s river village is already clear.  Some residents on Maine Street have planted rows of tall evergreen trees between their house lots and the street where tourists drive and park their cars and the sidewalks where they walk.  Without these barriers peace and privacy is lost; with them a once handsome streetscape and a sense of neighborliness are destroyed.  Also, access by year-round residents to Dock Square businesses, to churches, and to the Graves Library is problematical during the tourist season, which no longer ends on Labor Day.

It is my fervent hope that town officials and the leadership of the KLT will listen carefully to their constituents’ objections to the proposed plan for the Mill Lane site and instead will preserve it as it now is for the benefit of all.  To quote the Trust’s own motto, “Together we can do great things.”

 

Sincerely,

 

Joyce Butler

(Mrs. G. Robert Butler)