A paved path along Wiscasset's downtown shoreline would impact the view at Le Garage restaurant and do little to spur job creation in town, the restaurant's longtime owner Cheryl Rust said April 7.

The Wiscasset Waterfront Committee asked for Rust's opinion at a meeting about the potential path, currently the committee's preference over boardwalk concepts an engineering firm has explored for the town.

“I certainly want to balance my personal concerns with a respect for the common good. That's my responsibility as a member of the community,” Rust said. But she also has a responsibility to protect the jobs at the restaurant she has owned for 37 years, she said.

The path would have an enormous impact on the restaurant's view, and could also limit the types of employers interested in buying Coastal Enterprises' properties on Water Street, Rust told the committee.

“What is going to create opportunity for young people to stay in this community?” She was not sure a walking path or a bike path would, she said. “I don't want to be unfair in cringing, but I do cringe a little bit.”

Pat Cloutier, Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce's administrative assistant, said everyone would like to see jobs for young people.

“But to think some industry is going to come here in the short-term is probably not realistic,” Cloutier said.

A path could build on what Wiscasset has now, such as the beauty of the Sheepscot River, Cloutier said.

“We need to do something.”

Committee member Margo Rafter Strong agreed.

“Doing nothing's going to destroy us,” she said.

No vote was taken Tuesday night. Committee members expressed support for Wright-Pierce to continue its design work and get back to them in June.

The town and the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry's Shore and Harbor Technical Assistance Grant Program have funded the work, according to Wright-Pierce's report.

The firm has also drafted concepts for a boardwalk along the shore or onto the river. A boardwalk would have a bigger impact on abutters’ waterfront views, and could cost more to maintain and face more environmental restrictions than a path on the shore, Wright-Pierce landscape architect Travis Pryor said.