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Right-of-Way Discovery Grants

 

Coordinator

Jim Connors, Senior Planner (jim.connors@maine.gov; 207-287-8938)

Goal

Help communities find and assert public rights-of-way to the shore, which may be lost by the passing of generations and changing land ownership patterns.

Benefits

  • Enable commercial fishing and other marine industries to continue as a viable component of Maine's economy
  • Ensure opportunities for recreational use of the water by year-round and seasonal residents, as well as tourists

Participants

coastal towns

Funding

Maine Coastal Program (NOAA)

Timeframe

Program has been in continous effect since 1987; grants of approximately $1,000 are awarded each year to qualified applicants.

Recent Awards/Results

  • The Fisherman’s Walk/Cliff Path in York extends along the shore of York Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean, a distance of approximately two miles. Historically, the path was used by fishermen living in Lobster Cove to travel back and forth to York Harbor. Previous research on the Fisherman’s Walk had established that deeds for many of the properties along the walk included wording giving the public a right to cross the property. The Town used the Discovery Grant to check the deeds of ten properties not previously researched. Deeds for eight of the ten reserved a pathway for the public. This finding seems to have been a catalyst for further Town action. Shortly thereafter the Town began to maintain the walk from Route 103 along the harbor to Harbor Beach Road. In 1996, Town Meeting voted $35,000, and in 1997, $20,000 to rebuild the stone wall along the harbor portion of the walk.
  • Brunswick’s 1995 Shore Access Report — a 50-page study plus 24 maps prepared for the Town Conservation Commission — documented the historical and legal basis for public rights to the water at 23 sites. To ensure that this information would not be lost, copies of the study and supporting documentation were given to municipal officials, the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, the
    Curtis Memorial Library, Pejepscot Historical Society, and the Maine State Library.
  • Searsport Deed research by the town of Searsport determined that the continuation, or extension, of Navy Street to the shore is a public way. The town posted a sign at the end of the street indicating that a public way to the shore exists and put down gravel to make walking easier.

Further Information

ROW Discovery Grant Program brochure (PDF 45k)

ROW Discovery Grant Program handbook (PDF 904k)