AUGUSTA - The Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry voted unanimously to advance legislation sponsored by Rep. Morgan Rielly, D-Westbrook, that would expand the language of working waterfront covenants to include nonprofit corporations and charitable trusts that are authorized to hold conservation easements.
LD 574 would allow for local land trusts to work together quickly to mobilize adequate funding that would help protect Maine's working waterfronts, which are critically important to coastal communities.
"If we lose our working waterfronts to wealthy individuals and large corporate developers, then Maine will lose both a key part of our state's identity and a crucial sector in our economy," said Rielly. "Current language in the working waterfront covenant statute is very narrow, making land trusts ineligible. By expanding eligibility, this bill will help preserve our states last 20 miles of working waterfront."
The bill faces further votes in the House and Senate in the coming weeks.
Rielly is serving his second term in the Maine House of Representatives and is a member of the Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs. He represents House District 127, which includes a portion of Westbrook.
Contact:
Brian Lee [Rielly], 305-965-2744