The head of Harpswell’s Comprehensive Plan Task Force has responded to critics of the proposed plan and urged residents to approve the document at the annual Town Meeting on Saturday, March 8.
In an interview on Monday, Feb. 17, task force Chair Allan “Al” LeGrow said it would be a waste to discard three years of exhaustive work because of a few concerns about the draft plan’s recommendations to boost affordable housing.
Two of the task force’s 11 members — George Prince and Vice Chair Amy Haible — recently wrote letters published in the Harpswell Anchor urging residents to read the plan with a critical eye before voting. Haible focused on the plan’s housing section, saying it references proposed solutions the public has largely rejected.
LeGrow said the task force did respond to public concerns and scaled back its affordable housing goals. It eliminated goals for building apartments, creating affordable housing districts through zoning, and developing lower-cost subdivisions on town-owned properties such as George J. Mitchell Field.
Still, the draft plan references a report by the town’s former Affordable Housing Working Group that includes recommendations similar to the ones that were removed. The report, Housing for Harpswell, was accepted by the Select Board in August 2024.
LeGrow said he respects Haible but thinks her decision to focus on a handful of housing-related items could cause voters to lose perspective. He said the draft plan is 270 pages long and includes nearly 250 recommendations on a dozen long-term issues facing the town.
“It’s not just one recommendation to consider smaller houses on smaller lots,” LeGrow said. “That is such a minuscule part of what’s involved here, and yet this is the thing that people, emotionally, have really glommed onto.”
A third task force member, Select Board candidate Matt Gilley, wrote a letter decrying what he perceived as a lack of transparency in the process of developing the draft plan. Prince also raised concerns in his letter about inadequate public participation.
Gilley criticized LeGrow for discussing aspects of the comprehensive plan with other task force members and town officials at a series of drop-in sessions for residents to ask questions. Much of the discussion occurred when no members of the public were present.
Maine’s Freedom of Access Act doesn’t prohibit officials from discussing public matters when no members of the public are present, as long as residents were notified about the meeting and it was open to the public. The key requirement is that they provide the opportunity for public attendance; the public’s actual presence isn’t required.
LeGrow noted that the task force has held more than 50 public meetings, most of them in the evenings, in addition to the drop-in sessions and a call-in show on Harpswell Community TV to solicit questions and feedback.
He urged residents to look at the draft plan in its totality and consider the importance of the issues it addresses: land use, the local economy, natural resources, transportation, marine resources and several others.
“As they say, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater,” LeGrow said. “There’s a lot of good stuff in there. It took a lot of effort, thought, dialogue and communication. I hope people recognize that, as opposed to emotionally clinging to one specific facet of the plan.”
The proposed plan can be found on the town’s website by visiting harpswell.maine.gov and clicking on Comprehensive Plan Update.
A final public hearing on the draft comprehensive plan is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22, at Harpswell Community School. The task force’s webpage calls it “a key opportunity to ask questions, share your thoughts, and provide input before the plan moves to a vote.”
The Harpswell Select Board has unanimously recommended that voters approve the plan.
