A serious request for advice

[Omar]

7000 square feet, with 70 feet minimum water frontage.  As I said, the houses can be only 35 feet tall and take up only 50 percent of the total lot; in other words, they won't be huge.

My dream is that all the houses will be presold to you guys.  A fantasy, I know, but a pretty one.  Hey, maybe one of you has always wanted to open a marine supply business.  You could set up shop in the factory and be able to walk to work!

Laser Allin at Omar's house!

[Josh]

That seems awfully tight if you use the max. square footage allowed. If you draw a 35oo sqft box in the middle of a 7ooo sqft lot you've only got 10-15' to the property line. What are the setbacks? Might want to work in a maximum percentage of impervious area (hardscape and buildings); I imagine you're already greatly increasing the potential for runoff. I'd also beware of the developer trying to combine two lots and build a larger house upon it. If any of the code stuff is online I'd love to have a look.

[Sarah]

I would absolutely love to hear what you think about Lubec's codes, arcu.  They're not available online, but I could get hold of a hard copy and scan it with my horrible scanner, and you'd probably be able to read it.  If not, I'll just type the damn thing up and send you the file.

It's clear that the houses now envisioned are misguided.  At the least, they will be horribly cramped.  And the 33-foot setback makes me wonder how they'll avoid sliding off the cliff.  No environmental impact or other studies have been done yet, so there is no confirmation that the project is even feasible.  The developer has just been pushing for the zoning change; he'll do all the other stuff he has to do later and then submit the project to the planning board for approval.  And it would be great to have a lot of quibbles to present when that happens.

I don't think, though, that the developer plans to combine lots and build bigger houses.  Instead, I think he wants smaller units that he'll still be able to charge large sums for (by Lubec standards) because of the view.  But who knows?  The man is utterly opaque:  it is impossible to tell when he's lying.  He's a soft-spoken, emotionless cipher with a veneer of shy amiability.  Yet apparently he's done lots of developing in Florida and made millions in the process (mind you, he denies absolutely that he's a developer).

Of course, one big reason to mistrust him is that expensive vacation homes and an ugly steel warehouselike building housing lots of small marine-related businesses that may produce odd smells and will certainly cater to rough, scruffy fishermen--who scare the bejesus out of a lot of the people who vacation here--are not compatible.  And I'm hoping a lot of people in town will realize this or will worry that an influx of rich folk will lead to noise ordinances and other such restrictions, and the ordinance change will be voted down.  If not, at least, townhouses will not be in the offing.

You know, this just occurred to me:  This guy lives in South Naples.  His name is Victor Trafford.  He has a pressure-cleaning business but, as I said, supposedly he has also done a lot of developing.  As an architect-in-utero, maybe you've heard of him. 

THANK YOU, ARCU!

[Sarah]

So, the town meeting is tomorrow.  And I'm in a quandary:  do I make a motion that the article be "passed over," which would delay the vote indefinitely, or just let the vote take place.  It's a gamble, either way.  Though many seem to be opposed to the things to which I wish them to be opposed, it's impossible to be sure that they'll carry the day.  On the other hand, if the vote doesn't happen, momentum will fizzle out as people gear up for the annual pastime of wringing as much money as possible from the summer people or just begrudge spending time on town politics during the couple of months when the weather is actually balmyish.  I suspect I'll have more of a sense of the right thing to do when I get to the meeting tomorrow, but, in the meantime, any words of wisdom would be welcome.

[Richard_From_CHI]

Let the people voice their choice. Procedural wrangling will just make you look like you don't intend to bring it. You've done a great job of having this addressd, you made them cave on big issues, you should be proud.

R

[Sarah]

That's how I was feeling till yesterday, when I found out that the selectman and the code enforcement officer had lied at the last hearing about receiving written confirmation from a lawyer at the Maine Municipal Association that the change is not an instance of "spot zoning."  This assurance last Wednesday swayed a lot of people.  Even after hearing of the deception, however, I was all for letting the vote proceed--precisely because I thought "procedural wrangling" would alienate people--but then I also learned that many people in the town simultaneously believe "No one has a right to tell anyone what to build on his own land" and "No rich guy from away has the right to ask for a zoning change so he can build what he wants on his own land."  This evidence of confusion disturbed me enormously and made me wish there were more time to explain things to people.  On the other hand, if they don't get it by now, I don't know if they ever will, and a delay could simply lead to a lot of 'em deciding not to bother to vote at all.

Mostly, though, I feel like someone second-guessing the answers to a test, something that is always a mistake.  Plus I want at least this part of the war to be over and done with, especially since no matter what happens, I'm going to be screwed:  houses will spring up around me with or without the zoning change.  So, if it were up to me, I'd probably just let the vote go ahead.  The thing is, it's not entirely up to me, and if I'm going to try to talk people out of trying to delay the vote, I want to feel like I'm on sturdy ground.

I'm very tired of it all.

[Josh]

That's how I was feeling till yesterday, when I found out that the selectman and the code enforcement officer had lied at the last hearing about receiving written confirmation from a lawyer at the Maine Municipal Association that the change is not an instance of "spot zoning."  This assurance last Wednesday swayed a lot of people.

Ewww... that's bad news baseball.

[Laurie]

That's how I was feeling till yesterday, when I found out that the selectman and the code enforcement officer had lied at the last hearing about receiving written confirmation from a lawyer at the Maine Municipal Association that the change is not an instance of "spot zoning."  This assurance last Wednesday swayed a lot of people.

Ewww... that's bad news baseball.

Grab a bat, punk!

Oh man, I love that movie.

[Sarah]

Good guys lost in Lubec:  111 to 95.

On the bright side, at least the article that, if passed, would have allowed houses to be built on property currently zoned "resource protection" lost (by a resounding 5 votes).

I am very, very sad.

edit:  What, no kind words?  Cruel, cruel FOT . . .

[Laurie]

Awwwwww.

[Chris L]

edit:  What, no kind words?  Cruel, cruel FOT . . .

Out, out damn FOT!

Oh, and sorry you lost.

[Stan]

edit:  What, no kind words?  Cruel, cruel FOT . . .

Out, out damn FOT!

Oh, and sorry you lost.

 My apologies for chiming in late on this, but I've been busy watching every last local patch of forest get cleared to build McMansions and condos. I feel your pain.

[Sarah]

Thank you, Laurie, Chris L., and Stan.  And especially Eric, who is a prince.  As to the rest of you, I can only assume that your silence reflects the kind of awkwardness people feel when they hear someone has been diagnosed with a deadly disease.

Anyway, I thought you might enjoy this little follow-up:  Yesterday, someone reported that one of the comments she heard during the wars was, "I hope he builds an eleven-story skyscraper" (this in a town were the tallest buildings have three stories). Another yokel said that objecting to the development was tantamount to communism.

Yesterday I also learned that, probably in response to the VA Tech business, the local school--whose student body numbers perhaps 300--keeps its doors locked at all times:  visitors must be buzzed in and immediately report to the office, where they are given badges they must dangle from their necks. The school, by the way, already conducts regular random searches of students' lockers, using drug-sniffing dogs.

What is my world coming to?

[Omar]

Thank you, Laurie, Chris L., and Stan.  And especially Eric, who is a prince.  As to the rest of you, I can only assume that your silence reflects the kind of awkwardness people feel when they hear someone has been diagnosed with a deadly disease.

Sorry for your loss and my failure to comment on it in a timely fashion.  I've been fairly busing cracking the encyption code on HD-DVDs and indulging my newfound love for macrame. 

[Grimlock]

The Ballad of Lubec Sarah

It was nigh on two weeks ago
Where the tides are high and the New Englanders go
to a sleepy town in some part of Maine
To enjoy fresh picked lobsters and water games

Lubec Sarah fought for the right
To keep her town free from developers blight
With honor and vigor she opposed the construction
Of unsightly, poorly crafted view blockin' obstructions

Against greedy McMansionists she made her stand
Against many cheaply manufactured houses next to her land
Which would crowd natures bounty with scarcely used parcels
Filled to overflowing with Home Depot offal

Lubec Sarah fought for the right
To keep her town free from developers blight
With honor and vigor she opposed the construction
Of unsightly, poorly crafted view blockin' obstructions

With the aid of the FOT she weighed every option
From kitty food makers (to dynamiting the auction)
But settled at last, after many an impassioned plea
To put her faith in the wheels of Democracy

Lubec Sarah fought for the right
To keep her town free from developers blight
With honor and vigor she opposed the construction
Of unsightly, poorly crafted view blockin' obstructions

Voting night came, and with bated breath
Lubec Sarah counted as her dreams sailed to the west
The developers won, despite all of her striving
Due to treachery, patronage and backroom conniving

Lubec Sarah fought for the right
To keep her town free from developers blight
With honor and vigor she opposed the construction
Of unsightly, poorly crafted view blockin' obstructions

Now many years later, and Sarah is gone
And the McMansion's melted from cruel winter's harsh songs
But in the wind, or so the locals say
the Ballad of Lubec Sarah can still be heard, blowing in from Johnson Bay