I am a member of the Harpswell Comprehensive Plan Task Force, but this letter contains my thoughts only. I do not speak for the committee. I write in reply to the June letter from Scott Ruppert (“Affordable housing’s tentactles”).
I certainly expect pointed questions from people attending public meetings. However, I take exception to critical statements that are conclusions about our work in progress. Mr. Ruppert states pejoratively that the task force has fallen into “committee think.” It is difficult for us to do otherwise, since we are a committee and we are thinking a great deal about our task.
Mr. Ruppert questions whether the task force “is ready to tackle” the various and complicated issues of affordable/attainable housing. How he comes to this conclusion is questionable to me. The new comprehensive plan is around 80% complete and, in my opinion, there would be few issues or no issues with what has been done.
Attainable housing and the future land use plan are the most complicated aspects of the plan and that is where we are at now. There is much discussion of these issues and a lot of “What would happen if we did this?” and “What would happen if we did that?” We rely on our consultants to answer our questions. For example, we learned that if our future land use plan does not conform to the state’s liking, we may not be eligible for community block grants that allow us to improve our libraries and other public services.
So, some of us may not agree with some of the land use plan, but we have to consider potential outcomes affecting all of Harpswell. Perhaps this is what Mr. Ruppert means by “committee think.” If so, it is necessary for us to complete a plan for Harpswell’s future.
Brian Hirst, North Harpswell
