In his latest BDN column, “Maine’s development conundrum” (Feb. 25), Matt Gagnon’s right-wing partisan sympathies overwhelm his worldview to the point where facts apparently no longer matter. Instead of objective evidence, Gagnon simply asserts that all would be well in Maine were it not for an “anti-development movement” hostile to change.
His proof? One development project — just one — that faced broad opposition from Portland residents and resulted in a compromise and better proposal that even the developer now agrees is more economically viable. Opposition to Midtown wasn’t “anti-development,” but rather an objection to bad development, to an outsized series of buildings and parking garages that even members of the city’s planning board, who approved the original design, said was ugly and out of character with Portland.
Meanwhile, Gagnon is apparently oblivious to the nearly $1 billion worth of development that is under way or in the pipeline for Portland. One billion. With a B.
If he took a few minutes to drive through Portland he’d see numerous projects under construction right now, big housing and commercial developments that were approved with barely a whiff of opposition. This includes the $100 million project on Thompson’s point — featuring a sports arena, office space and one of five new hotels planned for construction or expansion downtown — as well as the new Bay House and Munjoy Heights complexes in the city’s resurgent East End.
Or how about 118 on Munjoy Hill, a four-story mixed-use building containing 12 luxury condos and two street-level commercial spaces, now under construction? Or Avesta’s Adams School Condos that opened last year, 16 townhouse-style condos offering affordable homeownership in the heart of Portland’s vibrant Munjoy Hill.
On the other side of town, there’s West End Place, a new $6 million, 45,000-square-foot project that stands four stories and holds 39 market-rate apartments and two street-level retail spaces. And this project, like others, is coming to life without the “taxpayer giveaway” funneled to the Midtown developer, which should naturally warm Gagnon’s conservative heart.
I could go on. But the point is, how does all this development add up to a dangerous anti-development movement that is destroying Maine?
The real beef from Gagnon and other far-right conservatives seems to be that we should simply let wealthy developers build whatever they want where they want with no limits or restrictions, and the people who actually live in Portland — Gagnon not being one of them — should just shut the hell up.
If Gagnon would take his right-wing blinders off, he’d see that what’s really going on in Portland is new cooperation between involved residents and groups he derides, like Keep Portland Livable, and the city’s planning department. They are at last working together to up-zone and increase the density of almost every area in the city, exactly what Gagnon claims is needed.
Where’s he been?
If Portland is any example of public attitudes toward development that Gagnon claims is infecting the entire state, then Maine is in pretty good shape.
Dennis Bailey is president of Savvy Inc., and a resident of Portland. He served as a consultant to Keep Portland Livable.