I believe I know my place in Harpswell: alien/not from here.
That said, I have had the good fortune of being part of the town’s Affordable Housing Working Group and providing the group’s report, which has been approved by the Select Board, to the Comprehensive Plan Task Force.
Non-aliens and aliens of Harpswell should all be embarrassed when it comes to understanding what the housing section of the 2005 comprehensive plan recommended. Wow! Today’s housing plan is almost the same! Relevant items in the working group’s recent report also were stated in the 2005 plan.
Our current and past Select Boards, town planners and Planning Boards haven’t followed through with the intent of the 2005 comp plan. We are now in a worse spot today, which is upsetting. We’re seeing less affordable housing today because better land use and zoning ordinances weren’t provided. Young families have even fewer opportunities to obtain housing, and fire department staff is becoming unavailable because of the lack of appropriate housing.
Alien or not, your time has come to support the new 2025 comp plan for a better Harpswell.
Bob Gaudreau, Gun Point Road
