At a special Town Meeting Jan. 25, about 360 residents of Phippsburg voted down a proposed 180-day moratorium on housing subdivision approvals. Although they rejected this solution by an approximately 60/40 vote, townspeople are concerned about escalating growth in the town.
Many people voted against the proposed moratorium because they felt it was unfair that the application of one resident, Tim Lewis, who was just a step away from approval for a three-unit subdivision, would have been held in limbo if the moratorium were approved. (Lewis’s application has subsequently been approved.)
A second ongoing project, Bruce Poliquin’s proposed 69-home development near Popham Beach, would not have been affected, noted Bob Cummings of Phippsburg. He explained that Poliquin was still many steps and over 180 days away from final approval, including approval from the Department of Environmental Protection. “There was nothing to prevent the Planning Board from keeping his process going,” said Cummings.
James Totman, lifelong Phippsburg resident who owns Pine Tree Service Center on the Main Road and is the town’s Fire Chief, said at the Town Meeting that he signed a petition circulated in early January by the Phippsburg Citizens for Managed Growth, who drafted the moratorium. He seemed to express many residents’ point of view when he made clear that he agreed with the original petition’s concern that Town Selectmen needed to look into ways to manage growth in the town, but that the moratorium went too far. After the vote, he emphasized that he hoped the selectmen would recognize that townspeople are concerned and would do something. He said later that he is particularly concerned about affordable housing. “We’re losing a lot of townspeople who can’t afford to stay here,” he said.
On a questionnaire mailed out in 2000 before the current Comprehensive Plan meetings began, residents gave high priority to protecting Phippsburg’s rural character. The Citizens for Managed Growth have cited figures that paint a dim future for achieving this goal under the town’s existing subdivision ordinances. “Using the town’s present ordinances,” they said in a flyer circulated before the moratorium vote, “the Draft Comprehensive Plan states there are over 3,700 building lots available for new homes. This translates into a population growth of over 9,000. Imagine Phippsburg with a population of 11,000 (15,000 seasonal) — that’s 2,000 more than the City of Bath!”
Of particular concern is approximately 1,800 acres owned by Richard Hatch in the area of the Basin on the New Meadows River. This tract provides access to clam flats and has been a valued wildlife preserve, hiking, biking, ATV and hunting area for townspeople, but recently, surveyors have been working on the property. If it is sold to a developer, as many as 500 homes could be built if town ordinances are not revised. Bob Cummings, President of the Phippsburg Land Trust, noted that the property was bought piecemeal over many years and that clearing deeds will be “a massive job.” The town has time to act, he said.
The Phippsburg Land Trust, which Cummings helped establish in 1973, has spearheaded protection of over 800 acres in Phippsburg, including property and beach at Totman Cove, Sprague Pond and many miles of hiking trails and natural habitat. Cummings said he has approached Hatch about the Basin property several times, but to no avail. He did say that recently Hatch donated a 143-acre tract of land across from Pine Tree Service Center to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Phippsburg’s Comprehensive Plan Committee is in the final stages of revising the new plan, which residents will consider on May 8 by secret ballot. If it passes, it will go the state to be reviewed for consistency with state law, and then, if it is consistent, a committee will be formed in Phippsburg to draft new ordinances that reflect its directives. q
In an editorial last month we mistakenly included Phippsburg among communities that have adopted moratoriums. — ed.