Fact or Fiction: Some Of The Rumors We’ve Heard Around Town
Rumor: We removed vegetation as part of the boathouse renovation
Fact: That’s simply not true. As you can see in the photo taken before we started the work, there was no vegetation to remove. We actually planned to add vegetation and had a landscaping firm draw up an extensive plan that we shared with the town.
The boathouse before work began. Not much vegetation to remove.
Rumor: Our original permit and building plans did not include a kitchen. We went ahead and added it without authorization to do so.
Fact: Again, that’s simply not true. In fact, it was Brandon Woolley, the Town’s CEO at the time, who suggested we could add a kitchen and bathrooms in our original plan
Rumor: We tried to do something sneaky and turn the boathouse into a residence.
Fact: Not true. We talked with Brandon Woolley several times about this, and he was very clear that the use could not be changed to residential without planning board approval. We understood that and had no intention of doing something sneaky. We already have the Lodge as a residence!
Rumor: We refused to come to the planning board to talk about the use of the Lodge for weddings
Fact: Nothing could be further from the truth. The Town first told us a year ago that they might want us to go to the planning board about weddings a year ago. We immediately said we’d do that. We’ve offered to go many times in email and in conversation, and we’re still happy to do it today. But the Town has kept us away from public meetings and done everything behind closed doors. It makes you wonder why they don’t want us to tell the story in public
Rumor: Rockcraft weddings are a commercial activity that is not allowed in the Shoreland Zone (where Rockcraft is located)
Fact: We suppose that’s a matter of opinion. The Shoreland Zoning Ordinance forbids most commercial activity, but it also specifically states that renting a residence is not considered commercial activity. So when we rent to families on vacation, that is not commercial activity. We’re just like anyone else renting on, for example, AirBNB. But what about weddings?
We don’t consider ourselves a wedding business. We rent the Lodge to couples, and they do everything else themselves - it’s totally DIY. We did not form a rental business, and we report the rental income on our personal taxes. We have no employees. We don’t rent linens, tents, tables, or silverware. We don’t see flowers, and we don’t do catering. We typically do 5 or fewer events a year. (Full disclosure: we did 0 weddings in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID, and we did 7 and 10 weddings in 2022 and 2023 right after COVID. But aside from those years affected by COVID, we’ve done 5 or fewer weddings each year.)
Does that sound like a business? We don’t think so, but reasonable minds might differ. Which makes us wonder why the Town won’t let us go to the Planning Board or the Board of Appeals to see what they think.
Rumor: The Town is racking up crazy high legal fees with its “take no prisoners” approach
Fact: We suppose crazy is in the eye of the beholder, but there might be some truth to this one. Amy Tchao works for Drummond Woodsum, which is a big law firm.
We plan to file a FOAA request to find out how much the Town is spending and will post the results on this web site. If it’s as high as we suspect, it seems crazy for taxpayers to foot the bill when it’s not clear what the Town is really gaining.
Here’s The Funny Thing…
Karen owns her own business, and Larry works in electronic medical records for hospitals. We believe in following rules and we bend over backwards to do so. We would never try to pull a fast one, and we hate being in a dispute with the Town.
When we started planning the boathouse renovation, we asked the Town, through their CEO Brandon Woolley, to help us understand what was reasonable and allowable to do. He said we could expand the space and build bathrooms and a kitchen. He also said the boathouse could not be residential, and we were (and still are) fine with that.
Given the history, we don’t understand is why the Town has taken such a punitive approach. They approved the renovation, and we built it exactly as permitted. Why don’t they feel some responsibility for this?
Finally, we’re disappointed with how the Town has acted toward us, but we think it’s just wrong for the Town to threaten to ruin the weddings of couples and their families. They’re really just innocent bystanders. Is that how we want our Town officials to act?