After nearly four years of work, Harpswell’s Comprehensive Plan Task Force recently held what is likely to be the final public hearing on the proposed adoption of a new comprehensive plan for the town. About 40 residents attended.
The plan will be up for a public vote on Tuesday, Nov. 4. It was originally slated to be voted on at Town Meeting in March, but an oversized crowd exceeded the venue’s capacity and forced town officials to postpone the meeting.
A makeup meeting was held March 22, but contested items, including the comprehensive plan, were removed from the warrant to reduce turnout. Those items were moved to secret ballots in June and November.
In addition to the public hearing on Saturday, Aug. 16, the task force held a series of community meetings around town to explain recent changes to the draft plan and answer residents’ questions.
The task force deleted a previously stated goal to limit the conversion of existing housing into short-term rentals because of some residents’ concerns about possible harm to tourism and recreation opportunities.
In addition, the land use section was revised to address resident opposition to recommended zoning changes that would encourage the development of smaller homes on smaller lots.
At the public hearing, a handful of residents pushed back against those changes and raised concerns that the task force had abandoned important housing affordability goals to appease a small group of vocal critics.
“I think you’ve been whiplashed by public knee-jerk reactions to a lot of things,” Harpswell Neck resident Jim Laughren said, adding that the task force has done a commendable job overall.
Task force Chair Al LeGrow said the group had a split vote on the housing-related changes, but that it sought additional guidance from the town’s Housing Committee, which gave its approval. He noted that not all goals related to housing were removed from the plan.
LeGrow said the task force would meet again to consider feedback from the public hearing, with a focus on making sure the draft plan reflects consistent goals throughout. “We’re going to take the inputs that we get today and thrash them around again,” he said.
