I disagree with Eli Lazarus's Maine Voices opinion piece and perspective
regarding coastal property owners and their rights and obligations of coastal
property ownership: "Bad decisions about shorefront property no longer
excusable." July 30, 2010.
First, coastal property owners, by and large, have never asked local, state
or federal government to solve any of the problems inherent in coastal property
ownership. Most coastal property owners would just as soon have the government,
on all levels, leave them alone. I suspect that if all property owners in Maine
had to face the daunting regulations currently imposed on coastal property
owners, there would be greater protests from the citizenry. Today, even routine
maintenance of a coastal property is limited or challenged through stricter
interpretation of the regulations imposed upon these particular property
owners.
I have read the report cited in this piece and find nowhere in it that a
majority of coastal property owners want direct financial grants from government
to maintain their property. What most coastal property owners find distasteful,
and costly, are the unfunded mandates imposed on them by government regulations,
on all levels, that dictate how, when and under what circumstances their
properties can be repaired or maintained, hi the absence of these strict
regulations, most coastal property owners are secure in the financial obligation
of maintaining their own property without government interference. If the costs
become too high, then the option to sell is inherent to resolve that
dilemma.
Before anyone brings up the National Flood Insurance Program administered by
FEMA as a subsidy to rich coastal property owners, I will remind the reader that
this program is an insurance program where the premiums collected are used to
pay for losses. While FEMA has the authority to "borrow" from the federal
government in times of disasters, all borrowed money is paid back. It is a
statistical fact that money collected from coastal flood insurance policy
holders pays more towards inland flood losses than for coastal losses, but that
is the nature of insurance.
To me, the saddest statistic mentioned in the report, and the opinion piece,
is that most coastal property owners, and a large percentage of local coastal
community officials and leaders, do not believe or trust the information on
coastal issues presented by the coastal "scientists", as many believe there is a
hidden agenda that is not being fully revealed. Rather than find fault with the
property owners as^ being non-believers, one would think the messengers would
want to determine how and why they are failing in getting their constituents to
believe in their message.
The so-called "retreat from the shore" regulatory scheme of the late 1980*s
and 90's, espoused by several of the organizations mentioned in the opinion
piece, were developed without input from the very people who would be most
impacted by these decisions. Getting people to believe in a cause requires
buy-in to the theory, and that only happens when those most affected have a
voice in the process. One of the prime motivating factors that led me and others to form the
organization "Save Our Shores-Maine" was to provide that very input into the
process of developing new Sand Dune Rules and other coastal management
solutions.
Our organization was instrumental in developing a new management agreement
for piping plovers in the Town of Wells that was successfully implemented
through the cooperation and dedication of the town, citizen volunteers and
regulatory authorities that has provided better protection than the "Essential
Habit" scheme that was initially forced upon the property owners.
We participated in the development of a State of Maine Beaches Policy,
adopted by the legislature, that provides comprehensive guidelines to improve,
maintain and restore Maine's beaches. If we implemented but a few of the
recommendations and procedures outlined in this policy, Maine's beaches and
coastal properties would be far better off today, in spite of the concerns
raised by sea-level rise. Attempting to have a fair and balanced debate on this
topic has proved difficult, which is why our organization will be holding one
later this fall so that all sides can be heard and understood.
Giving coastal property owners a real stake in the decisions and outcomes
will provide far better results. Applying the heavy hand of government
regulations, under the auspices of the "we know what's best for you" tactic,
will never again fly. Coastal property owners need to have an evenly weighted
seat in the process, not a token stool.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert Foley,
Co-Founder, Former President and current Board member
Save Our Shores-Maine
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