This is the fourth in a series of articles designed to provide the community with greater understanding of the town’s draft comprehensive plan, which has been under development for more than two years. This article addresses Harpswell’s marine economy, marine resources, and housing.
Marine economy
The health of Harpswell’s marine economy, which includes commercial fishing, aquaculture, boat building and repair, and related activities, is crucial to the town’s future. Challenges to commercial fishermen abound. Operational costs have soared, regulations have multiplied, and increasing water temperatures have forced lobstermen and other fishermen to modify their traditional fishing locations. These challenges, in turn, have had a ripple effect on other segments of the marine economy. The comprehensive plan includes goals and strategies to address these issues. Some of these are:
- Protecting and enhancing commercial fishing by supporting the recently adopted “right to fish” policy, hardening infrastructure to reduce storm vulnerability, ensuring ordinances protect working waterfront areas from residential development, and collecting better data on maritime operations to inform future decision making.
- Preserving and, if possible, expanding intertidal and deep-water access by working to “formalize” access points for fishing and recreation.
Marine resources
Sound stewardship and effective monitoring of the town’s marine resources are fundamental to successful fishing and tourist/recreational activities. To that end, the goals and strategies proposed in the comprehensive plan include: Improving water quality in nearshore and deep-water marine environments by routinely monitoring water quality, eliminating overboard discharge systems, limiting private docks and reducing float sizes to protect eelgrass meadows, and working with neighboring communities to protect shared resources.
Housing
At the start of the comprehensive planning effort, the lack of affordable housing in Harpswell was identified as a significant issue that needed to be addressed. Earlier versions of the plan took an aggressive approach by proposing that various areas in town, including town-owned land, be identified as potential locations to develop small houses on small lots. The Affordable Housing Working Group also suggested that duplexes and small apartments might be built in areas where water resources were suitable. However, during a series of community meetings, concerns arose that caused the task force to reconsider these proposals.
In July, the Affordable Housing Working Group submitted a revised report with more modest proposals, which the task force will include in the comprehensive plan. These include:
- Promoting accessory dwelling units on existing lots.
- Encouraging residents who want to downsize to consider “house splitting,” which divides a large residence into two or more smaller residences; or house sharing, in which a portion of an existing house can be rented to another family.
- Establishing a town Housing Committee to focus on future housing issues and solutions.
- Modifying ordinances to allow development of smaller houses on smaller lots in the interior zone.
An article addressing future land use will be presented in the November Anchor. In the meantime, the community is invited to review the information posted on the town website and participate in task force meetings, which are held at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.
