FREEPORT — L.L. Bean and the Mann Cemetery Association have reached an agreement that resolves a dispute over access to a historic cemetery on Flying Point.
The Freeport Project Review Board on Tuesday night unanimously approved a joint site plan amendment from L.L. Bean and the Mann Cemetery Association. The new site plan includes the creation of an access corridor to the Mann Cemetery from Flying Point Road and the transfer of Bean property to the association. Reference to a traditional access road to the graveyard across Bean’s adjacent Flying Point paddling school was removed.
“This amendment was developed in collaboration with the Mann Cemetery Association and we sincerely hope it resolves all remaining differences L.L. Bean has with its neighbors,” Mike Mahoney, a Bean senior vice president for legal and public affairs, told the board Tuesday.
In the amended site plan, Bean will convey a 20-foot-wide access corridor to the cemetery along Bean’s southwest property boundary, a small parking and turnaround area near Lower Flying Point Road and additional land near the graveyard that may contain undiscovered graves.
The association plans to build a 1,200-foot gravel road along the transferred land to provide permanent access for generations to come. The deed transferring the property would allow access for association members and supervised guests, descendants of those buried in the cemetery and town staff or authorized volunteers to put flags on the graves of veterans.
Addressing a crowded room Tuesday at the Freeport Town Hall, Project Review Board Chairman Cliff Goodall said he drafted an order to amend Bean’s site plan in such a way that it also gave site plan authorization to the association.
“I thought, let’s get all of these issues out of the way and all at once,” Goodall said.
The approved plan gives the association a site plan permit, which allows it to access the property, he added. The Association still needs a construction permit to put in the road and parking area, he said.
The Mann Cemetery traces back to at least 1750 and was accessed for generations by a gravel track off Marietta Road. At least 160 people are interred in the graveyard.
Bean purchased the property in 2003 and built its paddling center in 2014 next to the cemetery. In its 2013 site plan Bean included a reference to the traditional cemetery access and allowed the association to cross its property to get to the graveyard.
After Bean built its paddling school in 2014, it removed and loamed over the old road and later prohibited association members from crossing its property, but gave them an easement to its property from an abutting property.
In the subsequent dispute, the association argued Bean violated its site plan by removing the road. The town’s code enforcement officer sought clarification of whether the company was allowed to remove the gravel track in the first place.
Speaking outside the meeting, Ken Mann, an association member, said the issue seemed to be resolved. The association plans to raise funds to pay for the planned road, he added.
“We’re pleased with the progress,” Mann said.
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