Kieve-Wavus was planning to appear at the June 15 Newcastle Planning Board meeting to discuss changes it wanted to make to a property it was considering buying in downtown Newcastle.

The property was the boathouse attached to The Standard, an upscale condominium development at 75 Main Street. The camp hoped to erect a fence around the boat house, put up a flag pole, and make some changes to the interior of the boathouse that would allow it to hold staff events and meetings there. The camp was hoping to buy the property, according to Henry Kennedy of Kieve-Wavus, to have access to tidal water for boating programs and to create a centrally located place for non-camp events in conjunction with a grant Kieve-Wavus just received to foster leadership in young people by surrounding them with caring adults throughout their youth.

The boathouse property had been brought to Kennedy’s attention by The Standard’s real estate agent, who had been looking for a buyer that would meet the zoning requirement of “marine uses.” Kieve-Wavus had been looking for a property where young boaters would have access to salt water or brackish boating, as opposed to fresh water boating, such as they have at their facilities situated on Damariscotta Lake. But the camp soon met with opposition from owners of the six units at The Standard.

According to a letter selectmen received from Hylie West, attorney for the homeowners association, the association has the final say on how the building can be used. “The Condominium Declaration specifically states that Unit 7 [the boathouse] is not to be used by the public at large without the consent of the Association ... The property owners in Units 1 – 6 bought their units with an expectation of limited marina use in terms of privacy and liability.”

Jack Freker, one of the owners of the units and the spokesman for the group, said the residents were unanimous in their opposition, and that the association would not approve any of the changes Kieve-Wavus was proposing. That would have been required under the declaration.

Their concerns included a loss of property values, congestion and parking problems downtown, and liability if any of the young people are injured in that part of the river’s swiftly changing waters and rapidly rising and falling tides, he said. He also said the owners would not be happy with the loss of privacy, and that it was possible there could be 30 children per day at the site.

Kennedy dismissed that concern, saying only a handful of young people would be on site at any given time. However, faced with the opposition, Kieve-Wavus withdrew its offer, Kennedy said. “Primarily, it’s an issue of safety. We didn’t feel it was safe to use the dock and the boathouse without the safety features we identified, and Mr. Freker made it clear that the homeowners association would not approve them, so it wasn’t a good fit.”

Kennedy is hopeful another opportunity will present itself in the greater Damariscotta-Newcastle area.

Because the Kieve-Wavus issue was the only one on the Planning Board’s agenda, the meeting was canceled.