The entrance of Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resort: Androscoggin Lake shown Wednesday in North Monmouth. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

WAYNE — Selectboard members extended a pause Tuesday on campground and RV development for an additional six months while a town committee continues work on updating campground ordinances.

The moratorium, approved overwhelmingly by voters during a special town meeting in April, especially targets Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resort: Androscoggin Lake, a campground and RV park at the southern tip of Androscoggin Lake. The campground, split between Wayne, Leeds and Monmouth, was bought by Jellystone in 2021 and has been the subject of town controversy since initial renovations and expansions to the park were proposed in 2022.

Early this year, Jellystone representatives proposed 94 new campsites in the Wayne portion of the campground, allowing for an additional 1,000 people in the park during its operational months, from May-October. Most of these campsites, according to the proposal, would be “park models” — semi-permanent housing units with a kitchen and bathroom included — designed to host up to eight people.

Wayne residents quickly organized a petition effort to prevent the development through a moratorium on any campground and RV expansion. At several public hearings and meetings between the proposal and the moratorium vote, dozens of residents expressed concerns about the health of Androscoggin Lake and “preserving the rural character” of the 1,200-person town.

After the moratorium was approved by voters in April, the Selectboard appointed a committee to rewrite the town’s campground and RV ordinance. Betsy Clark, the chair of that committee, asked the Selectboard during Tuesday’s public hearing to extend the moratorium through the start of July.

The reasons to keep the moratorium in place were still true, Clark said: Progress has been made, but the problem leading to the moratorium still exists.

“There were things such as language clarification, that also involves meshing of the campground ordinance with the subdivision regulations and the land use or zoning ordinances in town,” Clark said. “Also, updating of definitions is needed. Environmental concerns needed more addressing. Density and intensity of use and development, and with respect to the character of our town, we needed to look at maintaining that, but also looking at a balance for development. Those problems still exist.”

The sign at the entrance of Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resort: Androscoggin Lake shown Wednesday in North Monmouth. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Ted Tucci, another member of the committee, also spoke in favor of extending the moratorium. He argued the Jellystone expansion — the initial impetus for the pause — conflicted with town priorities to preserve and protect the town’s waterways.

Jellystone proposals to expand the docks at the campground in 2022 were met with opposition from members of the Androscoggin Lake Improvement Corp., who argued more boat traffic increases risk of invasive species — including variable-leaf water milfoil — without more funding and requirements for boat inspections. Increased development around the lake, critics said during public hearings, could also increase runoff and the severity of algal blooms in the lake.

“The development proposal was the type of commercial development that was also not compatible with the Wayne Comprehensive Plan goal to protect water quality of Wayne’s ponds and streams, and to ‘protect sensitive natural resources,'” Tucci said. “That’s a quote that comes right out of the Wayne Comprehensive Plan. Those problems still clearly exist. We’ve had algae blooms at Androscoggin Lake for three of the last four years.”

Any ordinance changes would need to be put to the residents for approval, and Clark said the committee will likely be able to complete its work by the next town meeting in June. In fact, she said, proposed amendments to the campground ordinance will be voted on by the Planning Board as soon as its Jan. 16 meeting.