Developer stays with 6 units of proposed workforce housing in Northeast Harbor
Mount Desert 365 to explain why such density is allowed at PB meeting
NORTHEAST HARBOR, Oct. 10, 2023 - The developer of proposed workforce housing in the village is standing by its original application for six units, instead of five as requested by the Planning Board.
The Oct. 5 deadline to amend application came and went without any comment by representatives of Mount Desert 365.
The Planning Board, which first heard from opponents of the project more than a year ago, before an application was even submitted, is slated to discuss it again Wednesday night.
At a meeting Sept. 13, the board lobbied the applicant to change its request from six to five as a “compromise,” after chair William Hanley, a residential architect whose office is near the project at Heel Way, sympathized with project opponents who have hired a lawyer and dominated every public hearing and meeting on the proposal.
Hanley said the density proposed for the six units was out of character for that neighborhood. That brought multiple warnings from board attorney Andy Hamilton for the board to stay with the written standards of the land-use ordinance and not stray into personal opinion.
Since that meeting, the board received 20 letters and emails from supporters of the project, including the chairs of the town’s Economic Development Committee, Harbor Committee and members of other boards, including the Warrant Committee. The project also has the support of a majority of the select board.
One resident, Sarah Kinney Contomichalos wrote:
“It is absolutely true that the density of Northeast Harbor has greatly increased in the last 20 years. However, the increase in density has been done almost exclusively by the summer residents, not the year-round community.
“Presumably, all the expansion by the summer community was allowed as it was within code. Hence, as the current zoning laws allow for proposed subdivision, the planning commission should properly approve this project, and breathe new life into the village of Northeast Harbor.”
Daniel McKay, economic development chair and a former law partner of Hamilton at Eaton Peabody, wrote,
“That neighborhood is largely unpopulated for nine or 10 months of the year. Consequently, if there is a population density problem in that area, it is that the neighborhood is essentially deserted for most of the year. (It must be noted, of formerly year-round properties being purchased and converted to seasonal use over the last couple of decades.)
“Secondly, and more fundamentally, it is the responsibility of the planning board to faithfully apply the land use standards adopted by voters of the town including those relating to density. It is the voters acting through the legislative process who decide the level of housing density that is appropriate in any given neighborhood. In this case, the voters adopted an ordinance that clearly permits the placement of six housing units on the Heel Way site.”
Resident Ned Herrington reminded the board that a petition he circulated last year in support of the project had 250 signatories.
“There used to be a symbiotic relationship between the summer folks and year-round community” Contomichalos added. “A number of streets including Neighborhood, Joy, Tracy, Maple and Summit were occupied almost exclusively by year-round residents who kept the village vibrant. During the winter months, they performed valuable services as postal workers, librarians, caretakers, contractors, plumbers, teachers, and their children attended the excellent Elementary School.
"Simply put, the town has become unaffordable for year round residents and is in grave danger of becoming a hollowed-out resort town.”
Other written supporters included Stephen Milliken, David Milliken, Heather Evans, Ann Kinney, Nancy Schafer, Donald Graves, Kerri Sands, Chris Moore, Judy Gilkes Benson, Jamie Blaine, Gerry Vasisko, Elaine Lincoln, Cecily Cook, Donna Reis and Rick Savage, chair of the Harbor Committee.
Hanley is between a rock and a hard place. The very people he works for designing houses are some of the people complaining. I say stick with six.