Critics say federal and state building laws in southern Maine are too permissive.
The wetlands near the brook are fiercely protected on one side, but more easily destroyed on the other. On the South Portland side, a bulldozer recently filled in wetlands to make room for a new house. On the Cape Elizabeth side, developers aren't even allowed to build a driveway across certain wetlands to reach prime land. Portland Press Herald Photo by Jack Milton Alice and Peter Rand of Cape Elizabeth stand next to a flood-control weir, built by the developer of the Stonegate subdivision. The Rands began advocating stronger wetlands regulations during the real estate boom of the '80s.