I urge Harpswell voters to think carefully before voting yes on the comprehensive plan.
Public meetings in 2024 elicited strong opposition to the draft comprehensive plan and Affordable Housing Working Group recommendations to develop Mitchell Field and Doughty Point for affordable housing. The working group’s proposals to greatly reduce lot sizes were also controversial in light of groundwater concerns.
In a September 2024 Anchor article, working group members assured the public they had abandoned “a goal that would have encouraged the development of attainable housing” at Mitchell Field and Doughty Point. Is this true? Page 17 of the working group’s report says, “At the Select Board’s behest, assess the viability of portions of Mitchell Field and town-owned land on Doughty Point Road as possible locations for Planned Attainable Housing.” It seems these sites are still part of the housing report.
With regard to lot sizes, Goal 7 of the comprehensive plan’s land use section recommends the following: “Revise the land use regulations to expand the opportunities to develop new attainable housing as recommended in Housing for Harpswell, the report of the Affordable Housing Working Group.” These recommendations would significantly reduce lot sizes in 90% of Harpswell, in some cases from 40,000 square feet to 8,000 square feet for a single-bedroom unit. Does this mean a 7-acre site like the former West Harpswell School could be developed as townhouses or duplexes with 35 single-bedroom units?
The housing report recommends reducing single-family lot sizes from 40,000 square feet to as little as 12,000 square feet. Does this mean a 1-acre lot could go from one single-family house to three one-bedroom houses? Check out the report and draw your own conclusions.
Before you vote yes on the comprehensive plan, read the goals, policies and strategies carefully, and read the housing report. Be informed.
Amy Haible, Harpswell Neck
