I am sure there are places in Maine that are more lobster-centric than our own village of Noank, but there is certainly nowhere around here that comes close.

Indeed, there are four restaurants in the small village of Noank and two of them - Abbott's Lobster in the Rough and Ford's Lobsters - have menus built around lobster.

All four seaside restaurants serve the obligatory lobster roll, and based on my tasting this week of a hot roll at Ford's, I would sympathize with the commenters on

TripAdvisor.com who suggest it is the best in town. It is very good and, at $17, not a bad buy.

To be fair, though, it's hard to imagine how Abbott's could have become such a tourism icon over the years by serving an unsatisfying lobster roll.

There used to be a joke in Noank about an old Noanker being asked for directions by one of the ubiquitous tourists, lost looking for Abbott's.

The crusty Noanker in the fable offers directions that, if followed correctly, would lead the driver down Main Street and right into the Mystic River.

A new version of the divert-the-lobster-seeking tourists story is unfolding in Noank now, with a recent zoning cease-and-desist order against Ford's, which is accused of having too many seats, including some lawn chairs used by patrons waiting to be fed.

Apparently the order was issued after complaints were filed by neighbors.

I don't know how strong the zoning case against Ford's may turn out to be, but I would guess a November hearing before the Noank Zoning Board of Appeals will draw a big crowd.

Noank residents sympathetic to the upstart lobster house - the current owner bought the property in 2005, and the restaurant has evolved and grown more popular since then - have put out lawn signs supporting Ford's.

I saw one of the "Don't Pinch Us Out" pro-Ford's lawn signs, including a picture of a big red claw, directly across from the restaurant's driveway, on the lawn of a longtime Noank resident.

You can see why Noankers might raise their claws in support of Ford's since the lobster pound, part of a riverside complex that includes a small marina and boat fuel dock, has been a village institution as long as anyone can remember.

Fighting Ford's is maybe akin to being against sheep in North Stonington or submarines in Groton.

It does harken to the complaints once raised by residents of Stonington borough that the fishing boats there were causing an offensive smell.

Visiting Ford's this week, I couldn't help but admire the way the new restaurant, which is open most of the year, has been gently slid into the Ford's property, preserving the quaint, riverside charm of the docks, sheds and original lobster pound.

Photographs of the array of colorful lobster pots hanging around a shed doorway at Ford's might grace more postcards mailed from eastern Connecticut than any other scene.

If the principal complaint against Ford's is about those lawn chairs for waiting customers, the complaining neighbors ought to pinch themselves and wake up to the reality and traditions of the beautiful place where they are lucky enough to live.

This is the opinion of David Collins.

d.collins@theday.com

Twitter: @DavidCollinsct