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V O L . X X V I I I N O. I I I F E B R UA R Y 7 , 2 0 2 2 20 C O M M E R C I A L D E V E L O P M E N T F O C U S waterfront goes away, it's not coming back," says Chad Strater, Sea Meadow's board president. Biggest threats Sam Belknap, senior community devel- opment officer of the Island Institute, says the biggest threats to working waterfront are commercial development pressures and climate change. e Island Institute is a Rockland- based nonprofit that works to develop local economies and climate solu- tions for Maine's island and coastal communities. "It's too big for any one organiza- tion to tackle," says Belknap. "It has to come from across the state right on down to grassroots." Some communities, such as Vinalhaven, have strong working waterfront protections, while oth- ers don't have zoning in place to offer protection, Belknap says. "Code enforcement may sound bor- ing, but it's a huge tool in protecting working waterfronts. ere are com- munities that understand it intimately and some — not yet. Small towns have mounting challenges on them and conflicting pressures," Belknap says. "It's up to communities to decide for themselves the balance between com- mercial uses and noncommercial uses for working waterfronts." William Needelman, water- front coordinator for the city of Portland, sees zoning as a key tool to protect working waterfront from development. "Zoning is the primary tool. It's not always the best or only tool, but it's effective," Needelman says. In Portland, housing construction is not allowed on certain waterfront areas. Hotels are not allowed. "at takes away the speculative development," Needelman says. Portland has found that some uses are more compatible with working waterfronts, such as upper floor offices. e working dock is the most critical to be kept as working waterfront, but having restaurants and retail at the end adjacent to Commercial Street can be successful, too, Needelman says. "You can't zone everyone into the Stone Age, though. e working water- front needs revenue to maintain the property. At what point is that revenue a danger to putting the waterfront out of balance?" Needelman says. "If the revenue of a pier is so low that the pier will degrade to the point that access will disappear anyway, that's bad." Needelman says Portland needs to look to the future, as well. e waters around the piers and wharves need to be dredged. Climate change and sea level rise adaptations need to be made. "A robust and healthy balance sheet is the best adaptive strategy to combat sea level rise. If the books don't balance, how to you make an investment to protect the wharf going forward?" Needelman says. Overall, the city's planning and devel- opment has to find a middle ground. "It's about achieving balance and encouraging complementary and com- patible uses. We want to care of tourists. But if tourism overwhelms the working waterfront use, then you're out of bal- ance," Needelman says. Portland at one point had the option of following the path of big commercial retail development like Baltimore's Inner Harbor, Needelman says. But a 1987 waterfront refer- endum approved by two-thirds of Portland voters put a moratorium on nonmarine development. e pendulum has swung back and forth a bit since then on develop- ment restrictions, he says. But going forward, Needelman says he expects "the pendulum will continue to swing in the direction of the ocean." Changing demands on the waterfront Back in Rockland, "We have to look at the working waterfront and protect it, but this is at a time of a diminishing groundfishing industry. At some point, if there's no industry to support, you have to ask what we're doing it for. We're seeing declines in the lobster industry. We lost the shrimp industry. We've got declines in herring. We've lost so many fishing industries. No one is going to be happy to see a fish packing plant on the water," Glaser says. "We want to be supporting fishing, but fishing itself is changing and new marine industries are growing," Glaser says. "Maybe seaweed. Maybe more shipping by ocean. Windmills may take a role. We don't know." Of the three parcels for sale on the Rockland waterfront, Glaser says "there's always interest, but it's not as serious as we'd like. ey're a lot of money. But we're in good shape. We're not at the mercy of any one developer. We're open to people with ideas." Je ssic a Hal l, Mainebiz staff w r ite r, can be reached at jhall @ mainebiz.biz » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Access to the waterfront is a finite resource that's always under real estate pressure. We can't create more once it's gone. — Don Perkins Gulf of Maine Research Institute Don Perkins, president and CEO of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, which made a major commitment to preserving working waterfront by buying a commercial parcel on Portland Harbor.

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