Amid concerns that a scenic blueberry barren could be turned into an RV resort, Northport’s Select Board voted Monday to put a 180-day moratorium on new commercial campgrounds and RV resorts to a town vote.
A Massachusetts couple, Michael Ruggiero and Ariel Savitz, want to build the resort on a piece of land on Beech Hill Road that is popular with hikers, stargazers and photographers. The resort could eventually include up to 80 sites, glamping domes and spaces for wellness retreats, according to a preliminary plan submitted to the town.
The moratorium would give the town time to draft regulations, which would then need to be approved at a future town meeting, Town Manager James Kossuth said to a room that was packed to overflowing.
A task force of residents will work with Kossuth to finalize the proposed moratorium by the next Select Board meeting on April 6.
Judy Berk, who is part of a group of residents organized against the RV resort, said she was happy with the turnout and the respectful tone of the meeting.
“We don’t want to lose what makes this place so special,” she said.
Shortly before the meeting, Ruggiero posted “No Trespassing” signs on the property. At the meeting, he said he did it because opponents of the project had gone on his land to take photos that they used as part of their public campaign against the RV resort.
“I imagine most of you would find it intolerable to have a neighbor trespass onto your property, take selfies and then use their smiles as part of a smear campaign against your dreams,” he said.
Carrie Braman, a Northport resident who opposes the development said she was frustrated that Ruggiero posted the land, which has long been open to the public to use as long as they weren’t interfering with the blueberry harvest. She had been encouraging people to visit the land to refresh their memories of just how beautiful it is.
“Apparently now we’re not able to,” she said. “I think that speaks volumes about the way this will impact our neighborhood.”
The effort to stop the RV resort is part of a larger push to protect blueberry barrens from development in the midcoast and beyond — an effort intensifying as Maine’s largest blueberry producer, Jasper Wyman & Son, is selling off hundreds of acres of blueberry barrens in the midcoast, the Portland Press Herald has reported. In Northport, the company also is selling a separate 170 acre parcel, priced at $799,000.
A group of Searsport women, called the Wild Blueberry Collective, is trying to raise $750,000 to purchase 150 acres of blueberry land from Wymans by July. And a nearly 250-acre parcel in Belfast, owned by Allen’s Blueberry Freezer, is on the market for $1.8 million — despite pleas from community members to protect it for public use.
In an interview ahead of the meeting, Ruggiero said he had hired a lawyer and was exploring potential legal action against both the town and Jasper Wyman & Son, the company that sold him the land, because he said the company knew that members of the community were circulating a petition opposing the project but did not inform him before he closed on the parcel.
He also pushed back on the notion that the barrens represent pristine nature, since the parcel has been managed as a commercial blueberry operation.
“Calling this property wild is like calling a 100-acre corn field untamed,” he said.
Ruggiero, who farms 2 acres of high bush blueberries in Massachusetts, said he would keep most of the wild blueberry barrens in production. But the project’s proposed design shows that a gravel road, a lodge and RV sites with water, electric and sewer service would be built on the barren.
Ruggiero said he intends to manage the blueberries organically. He also envisions the RV park as a place where he can gather with fellow followers of Taoism and said he would offer free Tai Chi classes and let the public pick blueberries at below-market prices.
“I was under the impression that Northport was not against having a development which might help the community,” he said. “But maybe I was wrong.”
Blueberry barrens are a quintessential part of the Maine landscape, first created by Indigenous people managing the land to produce berries. These ecosystems provide important habitat for native bees and certain birds. While many barrens are privately-owned, they are often widely used by the public.
In recent years, the amount of land in blueberry production has been steadily contracting, with blueberry land currently being lost at a rate of about 8% per year, said Eric Venturini, executive director of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine.
The main driver is economic, he said. Last year’s crop was “devastating” he said, with blueberry producers losing $8 million amid severe drought coupled with excessive spring rain that hindered pollination. Without help for blueberry farmers to invest in infrastructure like irrigation, more blueberry land will likely be lost, he said.
