letter to the editor

Amateur hour?

Mon, 08/20/2018 - 4:15pm

Dear Editor:

At the Aug. 13 board of selectman’s meeting, Wendy Wolf asserted that the east side rezoning proposal conflicts with the 2015 Comprehensive Plan. She stated that the town’s legal counsel had confirmed a “legal” conflict existed but, when asked, declined to provide any details on the opinion. Dr. Wolf facilitated a discussion amongst the board regarding options but strongly advocated a warrant for the Nov. 6 general election where voters would decide whether or not to start the process of amending the Comprehensive Plan. After some public input, including several alternative approaches that were not considered, the board voted to move forward with Dr. Wolf’s proposed warrant.

Hold on! The process for the east side rezoning proposal is still with the planning board. Further, the planning board and east side working group have been crafting this rezoning proposal in good faith for over eight months with the Comprehensive Plan by their side as a guiding document. How can the proposal be determined to be in conflict with the Plan when the proposal is not finalized nor submitted and presented to the selectmen by the planning board? The public hearing portion of the process has not even occurred! What basis has a “secret” legal opinion been issued when there is no rezoning proposal before the board of selectman to review?

A resident asked the board how they missed the alleged conflict between the rezoning proposal and the Comprehensive Plan. Mike Tomko stated that the board members were “amateurs” and not professional planners. While I found his answer to be derogatory towards the board, he is correct with respect to Dr. Wolf’s handling of this topic. The public has a right to know what potential conflict exists and the planning board should complete their process. There is no need to put a warrant before the town on Nov. 6 on whether to amend the Comprehensive Plan when the need for an amendment has not been established. The board of selectmen should step out of the way, cancel the Aug. 27 public hearing and stop wasting resources on an ill-conceived warrant.

Patty Minerich

Boothbay Harbor