By Amanda Estes

Staff Writer

In 1976, after reading Jack Kerouac’s novel, “On the Road,” Richard
Rottkov, set off on a 14-week, hitchhiking trek across North America,
seeing the continent’s beauty firsthand, from Mexico to British
Columbia.

But now, the newly elected South Portland Land Trust (SPLT) President
said as a father to two young boys, he’s reluctant to promote
hitchhiking as a safe means of travel.

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I grew up,” Rottkov says from
the living room of his home. “It was kind of like a coming of age trip.”



Rottkov says he camped out nearly every night and snuck into college
dorms to shower, all the while scoping out a potential graduate school.


He grew up in New York’s Catskill region, he was a teenage reveler at
Woodstock and he received his bachelor’s degree from the University of
Vermont.

Then Rottkov moved to New York City? And stayed for 18 years?

“Living in the city was fun,” Rottkov says. “Everyone should try living in New York for six months.”

Rottkov says he and his wife didn’t expect to move so early in their
careers, but were happy to leave the city behind for South Portland in
2002. That’s not to say Rottkov doesn’t miss some of city life.

“I still haven’t found good Chinese food in Maine,” he says with a smile.

An adjunct English professor at Southern Maine Community College and an
education technician at South Portland High School, Rottkov is SPLT’s
second most senior member – with a five-year tenure – behind former
president and newly elected city councilor Tom Blake.

SPLT is a private, non-profit organization with a goal of preserving open space and expanding trail networks.

“A lot of our vision has come from Tom Blake,” he says.  

Rottkov says his goals as president and SPLT’s goals are to take more
proactive measures to save open spaces and create greater pedestrian
access throughout the city, but particularly in the West End so people
will have the option of walking or biking through the expanse west of
Evans Street, including the Maine Mall and Clark’s Pond areas.

SPLT envisions a footbridge connecting Long Creek to the Portland
International Jetport and connecting with Portland’s Stroudwater Trail.
Rottkov says he understands the jetport may have some security concerns
about such a trail, but he hopes the city of Portland will be receptive
to the trail connection. He says the trail could be a means of
promoting stewardship and could encourage the jetport to become a
partner in environmental concerns.

Preservation and conservation don’t have to be at the expense of business or economic growth, Rottkov says.  

“We do come across as an all or nothing thing,” he says. “My greatest
challenge as president of SPLT is to work with the city of South
Portland to try and strike what I think will be a more proper balance.”

Rottkov says a crucial component of finding balance is continuing to
update the city’s zoning ordinances. Through the work done by a zoning
improvement committee and planning official, the city council updated
ordinances regarding nonconforming lots – a set of regulations that had
not undergone any substantial changes in more than 20 years before this
fall.  The committee is currently at work to update and strengthen
the city’s environmental regulations.

The outdated ordinances make the planning board’s difficult job even harder, Rottkov says.     

“In most cases, they’re giving the developers the go ahead,” he says.

Rottkov says Cape Elizabeth’s recently updated Comprehensive Plan could
serve as a model – particularly its emphasis on clustered development –
for striking a balance.

While some Cape Elizabeth residents say multiplex housing goes against
the town’s rural character, town officials say compact development is a
method of preserving large natural areas rather than small strips here
and there. Another provision of the updated plan requires developers to
increase open space from 40 percent to 45 percent of the subdivision.

“I’m optimistic that [South Portland] can do better,” Rottkov says.
“I’d like to figure out what the community wants. We know taxes are
high in South Portland, but we think the public would support a bond to
preserve open space.”

Natural areas may have been harder to come by in Rottkov’s previous
place of residence, but his work certainly allowed him to cover a lot
of square miles.

Rottkov’s original goal was to be a general manager for a major sports
team. Instead, he entered the journalism field, covering sports for New
York City newspapers and the Associated Press and United Press
International. Covering soccer games during Brazilian soccer star
“Pele’s” stint with the New York Cosmos was a highlight, he says.  

From 1979 to 1984, Rottkov was the public relations director for the
U.S. Soccer Federation. In the position, he traveled with the Olympic
and World Cup teams to China, Mexico, Europe and the 1984 Los Angeles
Olympics.

“I love the fact that it’s an international game,” he says. “People can communicate so much better on the field.”

In 1985, Rottkov went into healthcare public relations, where he stayed
for five years, before realizing he had always wanted to teach.

While completing a teaching fellowship at New York University, Rottkov got a job driving a taxicab.

Rottkov says he learned how to teach at a Harlem middle school, where
he instructed students in English and history. Two weeks after his
oldest son, Liam, was born, he and his wife moved to Long Island and he
began teaching at a high school in Queens.

Moving to Maine, he says, offered an opportunity to get involved in
local activities. He says joining the Small Elementary School PTA was
instrumental in helping him become involved in the community. He was
president of the South Portland Democratic Committee until last winter.
The group led the local push to impeach President George Bush, which
Rottkov says he is disappointed to see hasn’t made any recent progress.
Rottkov also helps head the South Portland High School debate team and
environmental club. He coaches soccer and little league.

While balancing work and family has left less time to get involved, Rottkov says promoting SPLT’s mission is a top priority.

“The land trust is very dear to my heart,” he says.