Southwest Harbor considers moratorium on development
11/12/09 | 5 comments

Southwest Harbor considers moratorium on development


By Bill Trotter
BDN Staff

SOUTHWEST HARBOR, Maine — Concerns about a proposal from a local developer to construct 40 houses off Main Street has prompted a group of residents to float the idea of a development moratorium.

On Oct. 22, the planning board approved a proposal from Jeff Crafts to build 40 homes at Village at Ocean’s End. But some residents and officials are concerned that Crafts’ interpretation of what meets the town’s multiunit housing standard could create higher housing density levels than what the town intended when it crafted the zoning language. Crafts intends to connect pairs of homes in the development with underground, concrete utility tunnels so that together two dwellings can be counted as one unit.

Residents, municipal officials and attorneys discussed the issue of a possible development moratorium for a good part of the selectmen’s meeting Tuesday night. For more than two hours, residents, selectmen, the town’s attorneys, Crafts and his attorney talked about what kind of moratorium language would be appropriate, if any, and whether Crafts would have grounds for a legal challenge if it affected his project.

Skip Wilson, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said Wednesday that the board decided to put the moratorium question out to a town vote. He said a date for the vote has not been set but that selectmen are expected to discuss possible special town meeting dates when they meet again on Tuesday, Nov. 24.

The board likely will discuss a possible residents petition to change the town’s definition of multiunit housing at their next meeting, he said.

btrotter@bangordailynews.net

460-6318

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Comments
5 comments on this item
On 11/12/09 at 11:59 AM, freewill wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

It seems suspect that the language for zoning would be changed after the fact. The risk of exposure to the Town must be tremendous; who knew the Southwest Harbor taxpayer had so much money to waste on zoning lexicon?

It will be most interesting to see what other "development" is supressed during the proposed moratorium and how the developers, contractors, gas stations, convenience stores and lunch counters enjoy having a moratorium imposed on the local economy!

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On 11/12/09 at 12:53 PM, Lobstarok wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

"Crafts intends to connect pairs of homes in the development with underground, concrete utility tunnels so that together two dwellings can be counted as one unit" Who could anticipate some bugger would come up with this. Underground raceway to get around the the intent of the zoning. Unfortunetly SWH doesn't have the funds to fight this kind of antics, so maybe a moratorium is a good way to stop it until they can word the zoning law 25 different ways to stop this kind of crap

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On 11/12/09 at 2:33 PM, freewill wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

The website for Crafts houses depicts simple, elegant, homes in keeping with the New England tradition. Could this be a case of "You can't do this because I didn't think of it first?"

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On 11/12/09 at 5:41 PM, freewill wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I called an old friend who lives on "the island" and I was told that Crafts, the developer, is developing land that has been in his family for generations which makes this an even more compelling story. Presumably Crafts pays taxes to Southwest Harbor. I suppose I could understand the resistance to this project if the development was out of character for the environment or if Crafts was irresponsible in his endeavor but according to my friend he has made every effort to address community concerns and has made his home at the site.

The thing that is most confusing is, this is a terrible economy and there is a local developer who is developing responsibly and putting local people to work, what is bad about that? This is not a Plum Creek development, this is a project that will benefit the local economy for a long time to come. Hopefully homebuyers will shop locally and dine locally, and best of all contribute tax revenue to the town. This is the website I found www.oceansendmaine.com

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On 11/12/09 at 8:35 PM, frontier wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Freewill you got an excellent point. Here is a chnace to revenue into the town and "some" are against it. Just let the guy build his project.

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