Take the Upland Road!
The Issue
We created the "Take the Upland Road!" petition as part of our community engagement campaign in creating climate storytelling in order to inform the Maine community, state officials and media organizations of the truth about the sordid history of Beach Road, (now Port Road), in Machiasport, Maine. In the context of climate impacts on coastal Maine communities, precious and limited resilience funds need to be deployed for projects that truly don't have a simple, affordable and resilient alternative. We aim to inspire the review of the details, inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the Town of Machiasport's application and subsequent award of a $475k Infrastructure Adaptation Fund Grant for a project that has nothing to do with resilience.
The Maine Won't Wait program is the official four-year climate action plan created by the Maine Climate Council to cut carbon pollution and prepare the state for climate change. The Maine Infrastructure Adaptation Fund was created to provide funding to Municipalities, Tribal Governments, and Infrastructure Districts to adapt existing critical infrastructure to reduce vulnerability to climate change impacts, such as sea level rise, increased precipitation, and other related climate risks.
In 2024, the Town of Machiasport Select Board applied for, and has been awarded, a $475k grant via Maine’s Infrastructure Adaptation Fund to move a 1035 ft. length of a storm surge-prone coastal right of way, over private property, to be moved 35 feet inland in a coastal flood plain. They applied for the funds to be utilized for this purpose despite the Town Select Board being aware of a more resilient, deeded upland easement far from the coast for a right of way that has been offered to the town for free with no restrictions from the property owners for 38 years.
Most notable in the supportive documents are the comments from 2 separate Department of Environmental Protection officials that both advise that the coastal right of way be moved inland with 34 years spanning the comments, 1989 and 2023...
The Town’s grant application states that the coastal right of way is the only option which it is not and it also states that 255 cars pass there daily when it’s more like 20. The state of Maine website states that it has allocated “$475,000 to the town of Machiasport to move an exposed portion of Port Road 1,035 feet inland” when in fact, it is the 1,035 foot length of road that will be moved only 35 feet inland. That misrepresentation suggests that the road is being relocated a 1/4 mile inland, but that is not the case and it is then misunderstood by the residents of the state who think that a resilient project is underway in Machiasport on Port Road, when it is not.
You can view the supportive historic documents below that verify this entire remarkable story.
Legislative and State Audit Oversight Request:
We celebrate the successes of resiliency programs that the State of Maine has been funding and implementing via the Maine Won't Wait program but the 2024 Machiasport Infrastructure Adaptation Fund grant should not have been awarded due to the existence of the upland easement, the coastal impacts as well as the intrusion on the property owners' land. The state needs to terminate the grant due to its applicants using inaccurate information. This begins with a state review the exhaustive historic documentation that chronicles this tragic story of small group of local leaders disregarding state environmental laws and state official recommendations over decades with escalating property damage and environmental impacts to the coastal wetland and private property. Beginning with the blatant, illegal destruction of oceanfront property and culminating in enacting eminent domain with its enormous damage to even more private property and greater environmental impact, this saga cannot continue. There has been a viable, more direct, more resilient, more affordable, and more sustainable upland easement option that has been available to the Machiasport Town Select Board for 38 years and they are aware of it.
The community cannot make informed decisions and vote on proposals when the full scope of available options are not shared transparently. There are decades of state official recommendations to the Town of Machiasport that the upland easement should be used, that the town should abandon the right of way on the coastline. The Select Board and Town Clerk have used inaccurate information on a state grant application for $475,000 of state taxpayers money stating that building a new coastal ROW 35 feet inland is the "ONLY" option and that 255 cars pass there daily. Home rule in Maine does not mean that a Town Select Board can use inaccurate information to be awarded a $475k grant. These are state funds and this issue has state relevancy.
It would seem that the truly resilient and durable option would necessitate that the grant be rejected and that the town should reapply for funding to build the road behind the homes on the upland easement option. This grant application from the Town of Machiasport enables utilization of taxpayer’s resilience funds for a project that is not resilient with a clearly more sustainable option being available. Luckily, the grant was awarded but not yet disbursed. Now is the time to cancel the grant as it should never have been awarded. Help us raise awareness of the details of this grant application and the upland easement option to state entities to choose a truly resilient and sustainable use of Maine taxpayers funds within the state’s resiliency program.
The Maine Legislature Joint Standing Committee on Transportation holds higher authority than DOT Commissioner Joyce Taylor's office. We have emailed all information with the Chairs of the committee, left voicemails and were able to speak withwith Rep. Lydia Crafts aide about the situation and will demand that she and Senator Tim Nangle will review this grant application and terminate the grant as the Chairs of the Committee.
Inform the people of Machiasport of the truth about the upland easement and save precious state resilience funds for projects that actually don't have an alternative. Heed the state official recommendations over 35 years to take the upland road and and help make a truly resilient Machiasport!
The Town of Machiasport, Maine, was not maintaining Beach Road (previously named Port Road) for many, many years.
1890-1993:
In the late 1890’s, the town owned what now is now the DeFalco property and access by a back road was used by the inhabitants at that time, away from the coastline. The town sold and deeded this in 1908 with “All Rights to and From” this land. Daisy Proctor, the owner of all this property, passed away in 1982 and the “Quieting of Title “ describes the land without mention of a road or public rights of any kind to a road or an easement. The Aschettino’s bought their home in 1984 and no public road existed. For many years, private users would plow and grade when necessary, (never getting permits ), their right for access was by permission.
In 1983, a 600+/- acre private residential development project called the Florian Development subdivision was created without appropriate legal access. This project was made up of 40 acre lots and didn't have to go to the planning board. They needed a road for access...
In 1985-1986, a local citizen laid out three culverts and dumped thousands of yards of fill on the private beaches of the property owners without rights of ownership or Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) permits. The property owners brought suit against his actions and the DEP brought suit against this individual for no permits, as well.
The first offer for an alternate access or right of way was presented to the town through attorneys in 1990 by the landowners after one of the Florian Development lot owners was given a partial building permit by the town but could not get his final permit because of the lawsuit as the development had no connection to a town road.
The Aschettino, Wood/ Grant and Title Company agreed to allow a town right of way (ROW) for all to use who live beyond to cross the back land and Florian left a RESERVED EASEMENT should the Town agree to this inland right of way. This removed Florian‘s legal issues and the title company offered to build the “new road“ for the town for free.
The Town of Machiasport Select Board turned this offer down without citizens input...
The town was threatened with a lawsuit for giving a building permit when no road connection to a town road existed. In 1991, to avoid litigation, 2 weeks from the notification, the 3 person Select Board voted that Beach Road was a Town Road.
The landowners now brought suit against the town to prove a town road. The town could not prove a legal town road existed and the shoreline had lost 9-12 ft. Any of the original shore route was gone by 1991. To help the town, the landowners agreed to a Stipulated Agreement in 1994 with conditions. The DEP required the town to rebuild the ROW prescribed by an an approved construction plan by the DEP. The agreement stated that there was a right to pass over the private shore in a surveyed location that was 16.5 ft wide at its maximum and that all future maintenance would remain in this location. All agreed and the final judgement was made in 1997 by the Superior Court.
1997-2022:
From 1997-2022 the ROW across the Aschettino and DeFalco’s private shorefront eroded for many reasons. In 2022, the landowners brought suit against the town for breach of the 1997 judgement for widening and elevating the ROW with no erosion control or stormwater runoff measures and the ROW was failing. The town would not conduct a survey of their ROW bound locations, ever, and still have not, to date. The town immediately began an eminent domain taking of 50 ft of their oceanfront fields for a “new road” to be built just 35 ft inland. The designing engineer stated this ”new road” would still wash out and that the creek floods in storms, stopping safe passage. The citizens of Machiasport were not told these facts prior to voting for eminent domain in 2024. The engineering and construction of this coastal ROW that is set to be to be moved further into the landowners’ oceanfront property will have significant costs for the townspeople and is not a safe passageway. The town did not tell citizens all the facts of the landowners’ offer of a 50 foot wide upland access ROW across their land behind the homes, at no cost, so the town could build the FOREVER ROAD, away from ocean risks.
There has been a deeded easement in place since 1986 so the Upland Road could connect to Starboard Creek Road for those living beyond to use.
UPDATES:
On September 18th, 2026, the Office of the Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner Joyce Taylor emailed that:
“The Town of Machiasport is responsible for the Port Road relocation project, and inquiries about its planning, scope, or schedule should be directed to town officials. To date, the $475,000 in grant funding awarded for this work has not been distributed.”
This statement follows multiple phone calls and many pages of historical documents that were provided to the DOT that indicate that there has been a viable upland easement that has been available to the Machiasport Town Select Board to accept as a public ROW for many years. We recently spoke with the Maine Office of Community Affairs, which is the home of The State Resilience Office. The office had no comment on all of the historical documentation that we provided and told us that we need to speak with the Maine DOT and stated that the DOT has the authority over this grant. The Maine DOT Commissioner's Office declined to comment and directed us to speak to the Town of Machiasport Select Board, who are the ones who used misinformation on the application in the first place.
Maine State Official Recommendations:
- In a June 27, 2022 letter to the Select Board, The Maine Department of Environmental Protection Director, Eastern Maine Regional Office, James Beyer specifically advised that "given that sea-level rise is occurring, the rate of the rise is expected to increase, and coastal storms are becoming more severe, complying with [DEP requirements for maintaining the road] may prove problematic. I would strongly encourage the town consider relocating the road away from the ocean."
- Furthermore, Sue Baker, State Coordinator for the National Flood Insurance Program at the Maine Emergency Management Agency (“MEMA”) contacted the Town Clerk on December 11, 2023 to inform the Town "that there are hazard mitigation grant programs that may be used to design and relocate the road out of this environmentally sensitive area along the shoreline." Ms. Baker further advised the Town Clerk in an email dated December 12, 2023 "My concern is that the road continues to erode given its close proximity to the shoreline. Maintaining this road is going to be a never ending battle when considering future sea level rise. Relocating to the road is a much safer option, which is why I passed on the potential grant funding opportunity. My goal was simply to give the town another alternative to potentially help solve the problem."
- July 26, 1989 RE: Starboard Island “Right-of-Way” “From an environmental standpoint, it would seem to me that a better solution would be to abandon future efforts to maintain the Shore Road and look for another right-of-way.” Jonathan A. Cullen, Division of Enforcement and Field Services, Bureau of Land Quality Control, State of Maine Department of Environment
- “Beach Road has been an on-going issues for us again this year. This is the short road from Port. Rd. To Point of Maine. The Town holds a right-of-way across private land of two individuals as a result of legal action taken many years ago. While we have heard many complaints about the installation of rocks along the roadside, we must keep the way at 16 1/2’ as directed by the courts judgement. The Town Does not own this road and parking is prohibited there. Respectfully, Marcia L. Hayward, Town Clerk”
This is a shorter, more direct, inland route that is isolated from impacts of the ocean and has been offered to the Town of Machiasport Select Board for 38 years. This contradicts the grant application that the coastal route is the "ONLY" route option.
Town of Machiasport 2024 Infrastructure Adaptation Fund Grant Application by Town Clerk, Marcia Hayward, stating that 1035 ft. of Port Road will be moved inland 35 feet (further encroaching on private property closer to homes) while acknowledging coastal impacts, flooding and storm surges, while at the same time, disregarding the inland right of way that has been offered to the Town for free for decades as the truly resilient project that has been advised by Maine Department of Environmental Production officials in 1989 and 2023 (OVER A 34 YEAR SPAN) and the state MEMA floodplain manager.
Town of Machiasport 2024 Infrastructure Adaptation Fund Grant Application by Town Clerk, Marcia Hayward, stating "This road is the ONLY access by road to residents on the Point of Main and multiple islands" , despite a shorter, more direct, inland right of way has been provided by the property owners to the Town for free for decades. On the same page of the application, she writes that MDOT data shows a daily average of 255 cars passing daily when everyone who knows this area realizes that it is more like 15 cars daily. Perhaps the data comes from Port Road traffic in town, not on this sleepy little coastal right of way. The town of Machiasport officially transitioned and referred to the historic Beach Road as Port Road around 2023–2024 during legal proceedings and public hearings regarding right-of-way maintenance and property condemnations. While locals historically and familiarly called it Beach Road, town documents and Select Board records began explicitly standardizing the name as Port Road (with properties designated along Port Road) during a flurry of formal actions and public notices leading up to the 2024 town meeting warrant.
October 6, 2026, Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner Doughty Response:
Sue Baker, Maine MEMA Floodplain Manager: "My concern is that the road continues to erode given its close proximity to the shoreline. Maintaining this road is going to be a never ending battle when considering future sea level rise. Relocating to the road is a much safer option, which is why I passed on the potential grant funding opportunity. My goal was simply to give the town another alternative to potentially help solve the problem."
Sue Baker, Maine MEMA Floodplain Manager advising the Town to relocate the road to a much safer alternative.
1990 Department of Environmental Protection letter to Bruce Sprague "you are in violation of the Protection and Improvement of Waters Law."
1991 Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Dean C. Marriot letter to the Machiasport Board of Selectmen "Our understanding is that Mr. Sprague has placed fill in this coastal wetland on a number of occasions. Our goal is to have this activity stopped and the need for it to be eliminated, through stabilization of the banking...I am concerned munipal officials not downplay the importance of environmental laws in this state."
1990 Department of Environmental Protection letter to Paul Aschettino "maintenance of the road which runs along your shoreline does require a full Natural Resources Protection Act permit. The reason for this is that the road is continually eroding and any additional gravel will only increase the amount that washed into the coastal wetland." This is a direct result of Bruce Sprague creating this illegal road with no rights or permits.
1992 Department of Environmental Protection letter to the Town of Machiasport Selectman: "If I have to go forward with the court case against Mr. Sprague, I will have to amend the complaint to include the Town so that I can get a court order to stabilize the road."
1991 Department of Transportation letter to the Town of Machiasport Selectman, "The road shoulder on the shore side of the rode needs to be riprapped in accordance with the design prepared by the Soil Conservation Service."
Lasley deed and map supporting a new proposed road across DeFalco and Lasley Land supporting the upland easement option.
The Florian Development: Created in 1987, this 600+/- acre private residential development project called the Florian Development subdivision was created without appropriate legal access to the lots in the subdivision. They needed a road. A local man began illegally creating a road on private property.
In 1985-1986, a local citizen laid out three culverts and dumped thousands of yards of fill on the private beaches of the property owners without rights of ownership or Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) permits.
The Machiasport town clerk, Marcia Hayward, states in the 2024 Infrastructure Adaptation Fund grant application that 255 cars pass this road daily and yet officials state that "this is a road with extraordinarily low traffic"
James Beyer, The Maine Department of Environmental Protection Director, Eastern Maine Regional Office "given that sea-level rise is occurring, the rate of the rise is expected to increase, and coastal storms are becoming more severe, complying with [DEP requirements for maintaining the road] may prove problematic. I would strongly encourage the town consider relocating the road away from the ocean."
The state of Maine's website states that it has allocated “$475,000 to the town of Machiasport to move an exposed portion of Port Road 1,035 feet inland” when in fact, it is the 1,035 foot length of road that will be moved only 35 feet inland. That misrepresentation suggests that the road is being relocated a 1/4 mile inland, but that is not the case.
Carmine's Farm and Orchard
Carmine's Farm
627
The Issue
We created the "Take the Upland Road!" petition as part of our community engagement campaign in creating climate storytelling in order to inform the Maine community, state officials and media organizations of the truth about the sordid history of Beach Road, (now Port Road), in Machiasport, Maine. In the context of climate impacts on coastal Maine communities, precious and limited resilience funds need to be deployed for projects that truly don't have a simple, affordable and resilient alternative. We aim to inspire the review of the details, inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the Town of Machiasport's application and subsequent award of a $475k Infrastructure Adaptation Fund Grant for a project that has nothing to do with resilience.
The Maine Won't Wait program is the official four-year climate action plan created by the Maine Climate Council to cut carbon pollution and prepare the state for climate change. The Maine Infrastructure Adaptation Fund was created to provide funding to Municipalities, Tribal Governments, and Infrastructure Districts to adapt existing critical infrastructure to reduce vulnerability to climate change impacts, such as sea level rise, increased precipitation, and other related climate risks.
In 2024, the Town of Machiasport Select Board applied for, and has been awarded, a $475k grant via Maine’s Infrastructure Adaptation Fund to move a 1035 ft. length of a storm surge-prone coastal right of way, over private property, to be moved 35 feet inland in a coastal flood plain. They applied for the funds to be utilized for this purpose despite the Town Select Board being aware of a more resilient, deeded upland easement far from the coast for a right of way that has been offered to the town for free with no restrictions from the property owners for 38 years.
Most notable in the supportive documents are the comments from 2 separate Department of Environmental Protection officials that both advise that the coastal right of way be moved inland with 34 years spanning the comments, 1989 and 2023...
The Town’s grant application states that the coastal right of way is the only option which it is not and it also states that 255 cars pass there daily when it’s more like 20. The state of Maine website states that it has allocated “$475,000 to the town of Machiasport to move an exposed portion of Port Road 1,035 feet inland” when in fact, it is the 1,035 foot length of road that will be moved only 35 feet inland. That misrepresentation suggests that the road is being relocated a 1/4 mile inland, but that is not the case and it is then misunderstood by the residents of the state who think that a resilient project is underway in Machiasport on Port Road, when it is not.
You can view the supportive historic documents below that verify this entire remarkable story.
Legislative and State Audit Oversight Request:
We celebrate the successes of resiliency programs that the State of Maine has been funding and implementing via the Maine Won't Wait program but the 2024 Machiasport Infrastructure Adaptation Fund grant should not have been awarded due to the existence of the upland easement, the coastal impacts as well as the intrusion on the property owners' land. The state needs to terminate the grant due to its applicants using inaccurate information. This begins with a state review the exhaustive historic documentation that chronicles this tragic story of small group of local leaders disregarding state environmental laws and state official recommendations over decades with escalating property damage and environmental impacts to the coastal wetland and private property. Beginning with the blatant, illegal destruction of oceanfront property and culminating in enacting eminent domain with its enormous damage to even more private property and greater environmental impact, this saga cannot continue. There has been a viable, more direct, more resilient, more affordable, and more sustainable upland easement option that has been available to the Machiasport Town Select Board for 38 years and they are aware of it.
The community cannot make informed decisions and vote on proposals when the full scope of available options are not shared transparently. There are decades of state official recommendations to the Town of Machiasport that the upland easement should be used, that the town should abandon the right of way on the coastline. The Select Board and Town Clerk have used inaccurate information on a state grant application for $475,000 of state taxpayers money stating that building a new coastal ROW 35 feet inland is the "ONLY" option and that 255 cars pass there daily. Home rule in Maine does not mean that a Town Select Board can use inaccurate information to be awarded a $475k grant. These are state funds and this issue has state relevancy.
It would seem that the truly resilient and durable option would necessitate that the grant be rejected and that the town should reapply for funding to build the road behind the homes on the upland easement option. This grant application from the Town of Machiasport enables utilization of taxpayer’s resilience funds for a project that is not resilient with a clearly more sustainable option being available. Luckily, the grant was awarded but not yet disbursed. Now is the time to cancel the grant as it should never have been awarded. Help us raise awareness of the details of this grant application and the upland easement option to state entities to choose a truly resilient and sustainable use of Maine taxpayers funds within the state’s resiliency program.
The Maine Legislature Joint Standing Committee on Transportation holds higher authority than DOT Commissioner Joyce Taylor's office. We have emailed all information with the Chairs of the committee, left voicemails and were able to speak withwith Rep. Lydia Crafts aide about the situation and will demand that she and Senator Tim Nangle will review this grant application and terminate the grant as the Chairs of the Committee.
Inform the people of Machiasport of the truth about the upland easement and save precious state resilience funds for projects that actually don't have an alternative. Heed the state official recommendations over 35 years to take the upland road and and help make a truly resilient Machiasport!
The Town of Machiasport, Maine, was not maintaining Beach Road (previously named Port Road) for many, many years.
1890-1993:
In the late 1890’s, the town owned what now is now the DeFalco property and access by a back road was used by the inhabitants at that time, away from the coastline. The town sold and deeded this in 1908 with “All Rights to and From” this land. Daisy Proctor, the owner of all this property, passed away in 1982 and the “Quieting of Title “ describes the land without mention of a road or public rights of any kind to a road or an easement. The Aschettino’s bought their home in 1984 and no public road existed. For many years, private users would plow and grade when necessary, (never getting permits ), their right for access was by permission.
In 1983, a 600+/- acre private residential development project called the Florian Development subdivision was created without appropriate legal access. This project was made up of 40 acre lots and didn't have to go to the planning board. They needed a road for access...
In 1985-1986, a local citizen laid out three culverts and dumped thousands of yards of fill on the private beaches of the property owners without rights of ownership or Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) permits. The property owners brought suit against his actions and the DEP brought suit against this individual for no permits, as well.
The first offer for an alternate access or right of way was presented to the town through attorneys in 1990 by the landowners after one of the Florian Development lot owners was given a partial building permit by the town but could not get his final permit because of the lawsuit as the development had no connection to a town road.
The Aschettino, Wood/ Grant and Title Company agreed to allow a town right of way (ROW) for all to use who live beyond to cross the back land and Florian left a RESERVED EASEMENT should the Town agree to this inland right of way. This removed Florian‘s legal issues and the title company offered to build the “new road“ for the town for free.
The Town of Machiasport Select Board turned this offer down without citizens input...
The town was threatened with a lawsuit for giving a building permit when no road connection to a town road existed. In 1991, to avoid litigation, 2 weeks from the notification, the 3 person Select Board voted that Beach Road was a Town Road.
The landowners now brought suit against the town to prove a town road. The town could not prove a legal town road existed and the shoreline had lost 9-12 ft. Any of the original shore route was gone by 1991. To help the town, the landowners agreed to a Stipulated Agreement in 1994 with conditions. The DEP required the town to rebuild the ROW prescribed by an an approved construction plan by the DEP. The agreement stated that there was a right to pass over the private shore in a surveyed location that was 16.5 ft wide at its maximum and that all future maintenance would remain in this location. All agreed and the final judgement was made in 1997 by the Superior Court.
1997-2022:
From 1997-2022 the ROW across the Aschettino and DeFalco’s private shorefront eroded for many reasons. In 2022, the landowners brought suit against the town for breach of the 1997 judgement for widening and elevating the ROW with no erosion control or stormwater runoff measures and the ROW was failing. The town would not conduct a survey of their ROW bound locations, ever, and still have not, to date. The town immediately began an eminent domain taking of 50 ft of their oceanfront fields for a “new road” to be built just 35 ft inland. The designing engineer stated this ”new road” would still wash out and that the creek floods in storms, stopping safe passage. The citizens of Machiasport were not told these facts prior to voting for eminent domain in 2024. The engineering and construction of this coastal ROW that is set to be to be moved further into the landowners’ oceanfront property will have significant costs for the townspeople and is not a safe passageway. The town did not tell citizens all the facts of the landowners’ offer of a 50 foot wide upland access ROW across their land behind the homes, at no cost, so the town could build the FOREVER ROAD, away from ocean risks.
There has been a deeded easement in place since 1986 so the Upland Road could connect to Starboard Creek Road for those living beyond to use.
UPDATES:
On September 18th, 2026, the Office of the Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner Joyce Taylor emailed that:
“The Town of Machiasport is responsible for the Port Road relocation project, and inquiries about its planning, scope, or schedule should be directed to town officials. To date, the $475,000 in grant funding awarded for this work has not been distributed.”
This statement follows multiple phone calls and many pages of historical documents that were provided to the DOT that indicate that there has been a viable upland easement that has been available to the Machiasport Town Select Board to accept as a public ROW for many years. We recently spoke with the Maine Office of Community Affairs, which is the home of The State Resilience Office. The office had no comment on all of the historical documentation that we provided and told us that we need to speak with the Maine DOT and stated that the DOT has the authority over this grant. The Maine DOT Commissioner's Office declined to comment and directed us to speak to the Town of Machiasport Select Board, who are the ones who used misinformation on the application in the first place.
Maine State Official Recommendations:
- In a June 27, 2022 letter to the Select Board, The Maine Department of Environmental Protection Director, Eastern Maine Regional Office, James Beyer specifically advised that "given that sea-level rise is occurring, the rate of the rise is expected to increase, and coastal storms are becoming more severe, complying with [DEP requirements for maintaining the road] may prove problematic. I would strongly encourage the town consider relocating the road away from the ocean."
- Furthermore, Sue Baker, State Coordinator for the National Flood Insurance Program at the Maine Emergency Management Agency (“MEMA”) contacted the Town Clerk on December 11, 2023 to inform the Town "that there are hazard mitigation grant programs that may be used to design and relocate the road out of this environmentally sensitive area along the shoreline." Ms. Baker further advised the Town Clerk in an email dated December 12, 2023 "My concern is that the road continues to erode given its close proximity to the shoreline. Maintaining this road is going to be a never ending battle when considering future sea level rise. Relocating to the road is a much safer option, which is why I passed on the potential grant funding opportunity. My goal was simply to give the town another alternative to potentially help solve the problem."
- July 26, 1989 RE: Starboard Island “Right-of-Way” “From an environmental standpoint, it would seem to me that a better solution would be to abandon future efforts to maintain the Shore Road and look for another right-of-way.” Jonathan A. Cullen, Division of Enforcement and Field Services, Bureau of Land Quality Control, State of Maine Department of Environment
- “Beach Road has been an on-going issues for us again this year. This is the short road from Port. Rd. To Point of Maine. The Town holds a right-of-way across private land of two individuals as a result of legal action taken many years ago. While we have heard many complaints about the installation of rocks along the roadside, we must keep the way at 16 1/2’ as directed by the courts judgement. The Town Does not own this road and parking is prohibited there. Respectfully, Marcia L. Hayward, Town Clerk”
This is a shorter, more direct, inland route that is isolated from impacts of the ocean and has been offered to the Town of Machiasport Select Board for 38 years. This contradicts the grant application that the coastal route is the "ONLY" route option.
Town of Machiasport 2024 Infrastructure Adaptation Fund Grant Application by Town Clerk, Marcia Hayward, stating that 1035 ft. of Port Road will be moved inland 35 feet (further encroaching on private property closer to homes) while acknowledging coastal impacts, flooding and storm surges, while at the same time, disregarding the inland right of way that has been offered to the Town for free for decades as the truly resilient project that has been advised by Maine Department of Environmental Production officials in 1989 and 2023 (OVER A 34 YEAR SPAN) and the state MEMA floodplain manager.
Town of Machiasport 2024 Infrastructure Adaptation Fund Grant Application by Town Clerk, Marcia Hayward, stating "This road is the ONLY access by road to residents on the Point of Main and multiple islands" , despite a shorter, more direct, inland right of way has been provided by the property owners to the Town for free for decades. On the same page of the application, she writes that MDOT data shows a daily average of 255 cars passing daily when everyone who knows this area realizes that it is more like 15 cars daily. Perhaps the data comes from Port Road traffic in town, not on this sleepy little coastal right of way. The town of Machiasport officially transitioned and referred to the historic Beach Road as Port Road around 2023–2024 during legal proceedings and public hearings regarding right-of-way maintenance and property condemnations. While locals historically and familiarly called it Beach Road, town documents and Select Board records began explicitly standardizing the name as Port Road (with properties designated along Port Road) during a flurry of formal actions and public notices leading up to the 2024 town meeting warrant.
October 6, 2026, Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner Doughty Response:
Sue Baker, Maine MEMA Floodplain Manager: "My concern is that the road continues to erode given its close proximity to the shoreline. Maintaining this road is going to be a never ending battle when considering future sea level rise. Relocating to the road is a much safer option, which is why I passed on the potential grant funding opportunity. My goal was simply to give the town another alternative to potentially help solve the problem."
Sue Baker, Maine MEMA Floodplain Manager advising the Town to relocate the road to a much safer alternative.
1990 Department of Environmental Protection letter to Bruce Sprague "you are in violation of the Protection and Improvement of Waters Law."
1991 Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Dean C. Marriot letter to the Machiasport Board of Selectmen "Our understanding is that Mr. Sprague has placed fill in this coastal wetland on a number of occasions. Our goal is to have this activity stopped and the need for it to be eliminated, through stabilization of the banking...I am concerned munipal officials not downplay the importance of environmental laws in this state."
1990 Department of Environmental Protection letter to Paul Aschettino "maintenance of the road which runs along your shoreline does require a full Natural Resources Protection Act permit. The reason for this is that the road is continually eroding and any additional gravel will only increase the amount that washed into the coastal wetland." This is a direct result of Bruce Sprague creating this illegal road with no rights or permits.
1992 Department of Environmental Protection letter to the Town of Machiasport Selectman: "If I have to go forward with the court case against Mr. Sprague, I will have to amend the complaint to include the Town so that I can get a court order to stabilize the road."
1991 Department of Transportation letter to the Town of Machiasport Selectman, "The road shoulder on the shore side of the rode needs to be riprapped in accordance with the design prepared by the Soil Conservation Service."
Lasley deed and map supporting a new proposed road across DeFalco and Lasley Land supporting the upland easement option.
The Florian Development: Created in 1987, this 600+/- acre private residential development project called the Florian Development subdivision was created without appropriate legal access to the lots in the subdivision. They needed a road. A local man began illegally creating a road on private property.
In 1985-1986, a local citizen laid out three culverts and dumped thousands of yards of fill on the private beaches of the property owners without rights of ownership or Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) permits.
The Machiasport town clerk, Marcia Hayward, states in the 2024 Infrastructure Adaptation Fund grant application that 255 cars pass this road daily and yet officials state that "this is a road with extraordinarily low traffic"
James Beyer, The Maine Department of Environmental Protection Director, Eastern Maine Regional Office "given that sea-level rise is occurring, the rate of the rise is expected to increase, and coastal storms are becoming more severe, complying with [DEP requirements for maintaining the road] may prove problematic. I would strongly encourage the town consider relocating the road away from the ocean."
The state of Maine's website states that it has allocated “$475,000 to the town of Machiasport to move an exposed portion of Port Road 1,035 feet inland” when in fact, it is the 1,035 foot length of road that will be moved only 35 feet inland. That misrepresentation suggests that the road is being relocated a 1/4 mile inland, but that is not the case.
Carmine's Farm and Orchard
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Petition created on September 6, 2026