ROME — When Doris Jorgensen and her husband, Svend, bought land in 1959 for their camp on Beaver Cove, they were one of the only families along the quiet, secluded finger of water at the north end of Long Pond.
The Jorgensens stayed with their two children in a small tent on a platform at the edge of the water while they built their family camp. Over the decades, more people settled in the cove, but it remained quiet and peaceful.
But Jorgensen, 81, is afraid that a planned summer camp on a lot directly north of her property will ruin the area for good. The 68-acre, densely wooded parcel is owned by David Porter, a resident of Sudbury, Massachusetts, who is planning to build an overnight camp for foster children called Camp Caruso.
His proposal set off criticism from neighbors and nearby camp owners who complain that noise and light from the summer camp will ruin the quiet cove. Others are worried the planned construction project will damage the environment and degrade water quality.
Doris Jorgensen and her son, Eric, probably will be affected the most if the camp is approved. The Jorgensens’ camp is less than 50 yards from the boundary with Porter’s property.
Walking around her homestead Tuesday, Doris noted the tree-lined rocky shoreline a stone’s throw away from her dock where wharves might be installed and used by the camp. She pointed to the dense conifer woods behind her garage, where she worries a sports field will be installed.
After more than half a century, the tranquility her family has enjoyed might be shattered, Jorgensen fears.
“What we fell in love with was nature,” Jorgensen said. “There was peace. There was quiet. There were animals.”
Porter, though, thinks he is the victim of character assassination from the group of dedicated opponents to the project.
In a phone interview Tuesday, he said that since news about the camp got out two weeks ago, he has been bombarded by messages of support from people in Maine, Boston and even Chicago, who are standing ready to defend the camp.
“It was very heartening to hear from these people,” Porter said.
Jorgensen said she doesn’t understand why Porter wouldn’t buy a camp already for sale on another lake in the area.
“I don’t feel they have the right to come in and destroy somebody,” she said.
Porter, through Camp Caruso, a nonprofit registered in Massachusetts, plans to build four cabins, a waterfront storage building, a dining hall, an office, a craft building, an amphitheater, a parking lot and sports fields, as well as expand and improve the access road, Jorgensen Estates.
The proposed camp would take up about 15 acres of the property.
In an interview earlier this month, Porter said the idea of the camp is to bring together boys who live in different foster homes for 10 days at a time. The camp would have four sessions a season with 48 boys each.
He decided to build Camp Caruso on the site because he has a nearby cottage and he could be there to manage the camp, he said. If people in the cove think he can find somewhere else, he’d be willing to sell the land, Porter added. Pointing out alternatives to the project is not meant to be a threat, but he has been approached by someone who wants to harvest timber and another person who is considering building a 30-house subdivision on the land.
“If you are going to live your life to defeat the camp, then I’m going to let it go,” he said. “It’s land, and I’ll sell it to whoever wants to pay the most money.”
Plenty of other people in the area are forcefully against the project. At least 50 opponents of the project filled the Planning Board meeting Monday night at the Rome Town Office.
It was clear that board members also wanted to make sure every detail was considered before voting on the project.
Pointing to a recent report from the Kennebec County Soil and Water Commission, Planning Board Co-Chairman Dick Greenan asked for more application materials, including plans for the paths and trails at the camp, a detailed erosion control plan, a schedule of construction sequencing, a road construction plan and a waterfront design plan. In addition, Greenan said the board would research arranging for a third-party inspector to monitor erosion and sediment control during construction.
In addition to the extra materials, Porter still needs to complete a noise assessment that will be peer-reviewed by a consultant hired by the town at Porter’s expense.
Sarah McDaniel, a Westbrook attorney specializing in land use and ownership issues who represents Porter and Camp Caruso, said they would be unlikely to have a noise survey completed before August. She requested that the board grant a month’s extension and consider the application at its September meeting.
David Porter and his wife, Jennifer, could not attend the meeting Monday because of a family health issue.
On a number of occasions, McDaniel also questioned whether the Planning Board was exceeding the limits of the town’s commercial ordinance by requesting further materials and plans. For example, her client was not likely to agree to a vernal pool inventory, which can be completed only in the spring, she said.
Opponents of the project also spoke up during the meeting, and Greenan said he had received 18 letters from people against the plan in the last few days.
At times, the discussion veered away from the details of the project and into personal attacks.
Katrine Schol, a resident of Peninsula Drive, said she was “dismayed” that the Porters didn’t attend the meeting and said the couple were creating a hostile “us against them” environment.
“Camp Caruso will create a legacy of stubborn and willful environmental destruction, and I don’t think anyone would want that on their epitaph,” Schol said to a round of applause.
The tone of the comments eventually prompted McDaniel to complain to the board that the discussion had gotten away from the particulars of the application and into “character degradation” without Porter there to defend himself.
On Tuesday, Porter said none of the camp opponents contacted him directly about their concerns.
“People could engage in a dialogue,” Porter said. “Instead, they choose to go to a Planning Board meeting I can’t attend and call me a bully.”
Peter McGuire — 861-9239
Twitter: PeteL_McGuire
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