It has taken four years of hard work and community input, but the community of Isle au Haut is nearing completion of its first comprehensive plan in over 30 years.
There are some major challenges facing the island. “I don’t want to use the word ‘crisis'” explains Comprehensive Plan Committee Co-Chair Morgan Witham, “but we have significant problems.” Witham, a teacher who crosses on the ferry to teach at nearby Deer Isle, joined the committee in 2008 and became co-chair of the committee with Greg Runge this past June. They are the third set of chairs since the effort began in 2007. The effort has been slowed by working exclusively with volunteers the first few years. The assistance of Island Fellow Margaret Snell for the last year has resulted in faster progress and the plan is expected to be completed for the March 2011 town meeting.
The stakes are high. With the winter population dipping as low as 35, only three children in the school, and no younger children on the island, attracting new residents to the island is a top priority. Equally challenging is finding affordable housing for residents. With all current rental properties, including those owned by the affordable housing organization Island Community Development Corporation, engaged and housing prices beyond the reach of most working families, there are few options for those looking for housing. “Even if we could attract new businesses and families,” says Witham, “There’s no place for them to live.”
Not all is doom and gloom on the island. Black Dinah Chocolatiers, a café and high-end chocolate mail order business operating from the island serves as a model for possible future island business. Not only has the business been successful enough to employ a few islanders, but the brand has brought visitors to the island, inspiring a new kind of cultural tourism that augments the tourists brought by Acadia National Park. Although current rentals are full, the affordable housing model of providing rental housing as a foothold for new islanders, who then purchase land from the town to build homes, has proven successful. The goal of the comprehensive plan is to build on the successes while finding strategies to meet the challenges.
Like many islands, Isle au Haut has discovered that the planning template outlined by the state doesn’t always suit their needs. Considerations such as traffic density, town centers, and balancing business and residential growth take a backseat to issues such as maintaining a school population and the importance of a dependable ferry service. Isle au Haut also has the challenge of sharing space with a portion of Acadia National Park, which limits the island’s ability to explore options such as wind power. Since the island found itself so far outside of the typical template, they had to forge ahead on their own. In 2007 the committee sent out a survey to residents to help identify issues of concern, then organized subcommittees to take an inventory of groundwater and other natural and human resources. Recently the committee held roundtables on various issues and is now in the process of drafting the plan.
Using Black Dinah as a model, the committee hopes to encourage similar cottage industries and small businesses to try their luck on the island. Witham lists off the attractions of the island, “We have excellent internet, a dependable ferry service, we rarely lose power. We have some very attractive attributes.” The island still has a functional fleet of lobster boats and Witham believes there is room for more, but the current economy has tempered enthusiasm to rely too heavily on fisheries. Overall the goal is attract people “who can bring their jobs with them.”
Despite the influx of visitors that the island sees because of park visitation, islanders are cautious about encouraging more tourism. Current year-round and summer residents emphasized that they appreciated being off the beaten path, and the economic strategies that are being developed respect that. Overall, the committee hopes to see a strong economic mix. “We don’t want everyone working on computers or captive to the fishing market,” says Witham.
The committee plans to have drafts available for public review this winter, with the final plan up for approval at the March town meeting. Public input will continue to be critical to the process. “We want the plan to come from the community, not the committee,” says Witham. Most importantly, the process itself has been important to the future of the island. “This facilitates having conversations that we need to be having, in public instead of privately in pairs. I think that’s a good thing.”
Cherie Galyean is a freelance writer who lives in Bar Harbor.