BREAKING NEWS: Workforce housing approved in Northeast Harbor, but don't hold your breath

NORTHEAST HARBOR, Oct. 24, 2023 - The Vietnam War lasted 10 years. The first major battle was won by the Americans in Ia Drang Valley in November 1965.

Last night, Mount Desert 365 won the first major battle in the fight for the soul of this community. The Planning Board voted 3-1 to approve its application to build six units of much needed workforce housing in the village.

Before you say it will never take 10 years to resolve the dispute between MD 365 and its NIMBY neighbors, consider that the fight for the soul of the Hall Quarry neighborhood is entering its ninth year. Lawyers have filed their briefs and now await another decision by another Superior Court judge on whether the town may continue to bar the operator from restarting loud and disrupting stone-cutting in what has become a residential neighborhood.

The only beneficiaries in the prolonged fight so far are the lawyers and consultants.

After a six-month process which was no more than a practice run for a court challenge by the moneyed neighborhood opponents, MD 365’s approval last night came from members Meredith Randolph, Tracy Loftus Keller and outgoing member Dave Ashmore.

PB Chair Bill Hanley voted “nay” as he held a belief that the project density is incompatible with the neighborhood where his office is located.

But Hanley also agreed with MD 365’s calculation of the density. He did not explain the inconsistency.

As opponents prepare to tie up the matter in court, many years could go by before anyone inhabits the homes, allowing for construction time as well.

The lawyer for the four named opponents, Grady Burns, gave a preview of what’s to come when he took advantage of the fact that one board member who voted to approve last night will not be around when the final paperwork is completed and acted upon, on Dec. 13. Member Dave Ashmore is moving, and will serve out his term by the end of this month.

The select board will name his replacement in November. It is expected to be Gail Marshall, who is now an alternate. The fifth member is Allen Kimmerly, who sat out of the consideration of the project because he was recently appointed.

Grady maintained that the approval isn’t final until the town puts the decision in writing. “Our position is that it would be irregular and against the spirit of the statute to render a vote on this in the absence of reviewing a written decision.”

Ashworth would be long gone by Dec. 13, leaving only three original members to the decision.

What if Hanley balks at the facts and findings as written?

The board’s bylaws as amended in 2016 stated that three votes are needed to pass any motion, not just the majority of a quorum.

And would the new members be allowed to vote?

Customarily, new members may vote if they certify that they have read all minutes, viewed all recordings, read the entire application file to satisfy themselves that they are well informed of the issues.

Since the spring, the Planning Board meetings have been more like a plenary on the legal entanglements of land use ordinances than an actual decision-making body. Every citation in the application was debated ad nauseum.

Last night’s final meeting lasted five hours.

Most of the board members, except for Hanley, were satisfied to follow town attorney Andy Hamilton’s lead. Hamilton wrote most of the motions and performed more like the chair than the chair.

The most divisive development battle in village history started when MD 365, largely funded by the billionaire Rales brothers, Steven and Mitchell, began to acquire land and houses to develop affordable homes for year-round workers.

A petition by 205 mostly summer residents opposing the six-unit project at Heel Way was filed in September 2022 with the Planning Board before MD 365 even formally applied.

That petition was countered by an online petition of 250 signatories in support of the project late last year.

Four summer residents, including owners of homes in the private enclave of Smallidge Point, hired Burns to represent their opposition in the spring. They are Lynne Wheat, Joseph Ryerson, Stuart Janney and Lamont Harris.

MD 365 owns 2.75 acres of additional land in the district, which, given the approved density, could lead to another 16 units of affordable housing, or more.