Letters submitted by BDN readers are verified by BDN Opinion Page staff. Send your letters to letters@bangordailynews.com
I believe the question before Penobscot is not whether to modernize a supposedly backward town. It is whether to authorize a new commercial use with no rules to govern it.
Jamie MacNair says her proposed pub would be small, with limited hours. She also says she is open to expanding it. Good intentions are no substitute for enforceable limits, and the upcoming vote wouldn’t set hours, control noise or stop future expansion.
Blue Hill offers a cautionary tale. As the Bangor Daily News has reported, that town fought all summer with a bar called Blaze over outdoor expansion and noise, eventually suing over land-use violations. But Blue Hill had regulations to invoke. Penobscot does not. Its own comprehensive plan acknowledges that the town lacks commercial-development regulations and needs commercial site-plan review.
I believe there is also a safety concern. Southbound drivers on Southern Bay Road reach the market on a difficult turn, with limited visibility and excessive speed. A bar would add more cars, and the possibility of drivers who have been drinking, to this corner.
Residents can reasonably ask the town to pause new commercial development while it adopts these rules. This is not opposition to business. It is common-sense planning.
Before changing its liquor laws, Penobscot residents should ask: Is the town ready to manage the consequences?
John Zeaman
Penobscot