Plans to build a "glampground" consisting of 90 dome-like housing units in a small Maine town is drawing opposition from residents concerned it will change the nature of the community.
According to News Center Maine, the proposal from Arizona-based Clear Sky Resorts also calls for staff housing, a restaurant, event spaces and more on the 230-acre resort in Lamoine, a town of fewer than 2,000 people just outside Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park in Downeast Maine.
The company operates a similar resort near the Grand Canyon.
At a public hearing Monday, several residents expressed their opposition to the development.
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"My initial reaction was, 'Oh no, why here?'" resident Greg Davis said. "[Residents] don't want to see it in their backyard."
He also expressed concern that the resort will create too much traffic and ruin the town's rural beauty.
Amy Morley, the head of the Growing Lamoine Responsibly group, said Lamoine just isn't the best location for the resort.
"The thing that we love about Lamoine—the ruralness, the natural beauty—is what's attracting you to bring your resort there for people to enjoy," she said. "But ironically, that's also what's going to, we feel very clearly, going to reverse that."
Hal Feinberg, who represents Clear Sky Resorts, said he understands residents' concerns but hopes they will be able to reach an agreement. He said similar concerns were raised by residents in Arizona before the Grand Canyon location was built.
"Now that we've been open for three years, the neighbors actually have all come to realize that all of the fears that they had were unfounded," he said.
The Lamoine Planning Board is set to make a decision on the application at its next meeting on June 19.
