A serious request for advice

[Sarah]

Okay, FOT 'o mine, I figure one/some of you must have experience fighting dirty, rotten, greedy, grasping land developers.  I'm facing a battle up here in Lu-BEC, Maine, and I need advice.  Some bastards from Florida--the ones who bought the former sardine-packing plant next door to me about whom I did some ranting in the chat last summer--recently announced their plans to throw up a luxury housing project on an unspoiled stretch of coastal road right smack in town.  They'll start with six townhouses but ultimately hope to erect twenty (they hope to get $500,000 apiece for 'em).  The houses will sit on a fairly shallow shale cliff, blocking visual and, at least to some extent, physical access to the water below.  The short-sighted, money-grubbing powers-that-be that run my little town are, of course, drooling over the prospect of property taxes to come.  Some shill in the DEP has already leapt into the perpetrators' pocket and declaring that the complex "would not be a detriment to the natural environment."  This project will go through unless enough people oppose it.

I need weapons with which to fight this.  Oh, I'll call the DEP and anyone else I can think of and spread the word around town as best I can (not surprisingly, the full extent of the project has not been made public), but if anyone has any extra tricks to suggest, I'd be mighty glad to hear them.  At the least, I'd be grateful for moral support. 

I am not at all happy.

[Dorvid Barnas]

Maybe you should try to contact the guy who wrote "Empire Falls" and ask him for advice. Seriously. This could be in his wheelhouse.  On the local level, at least, celebrity advocates often get stuff done, at least if I'm to believe today's entry in my Martin Sheen Daily Affirmation Calendar.

I wish you luck.  All else fails, we'll find someone to Turk 182 it.

[Richard_From_CHI]

I would contact local politicians, environmental groups, enironmental lawyers. You need some sort of injuntion to stop them.

[Andy]

So they're taking out a sardine packing plant and replacing it with luxury condo's and you're pissed?

[buffcoat]

Like in the movies, I always root for the villain in these little disputes.  So I'm of no help.

[Sarah]

Maybe you should try to contact the guy who wrote "Empire Falls" and ask him for advice. Seriously. This could be in his wheelhouse.  On the local level, at least, celebrity advocates often get stuff done, at least if I'm to believe today's entry in my Martin Sheen Daily Affirmation Calendar.

That's an interesting thought.  He is in Maine, after all, though it may be tricky tracking him down.

I would contact local politicians, environmental groups, enironmental lawyers. You need some sort of injuntion to stop them.

Working on it.  I just found out about the scope of the plans last night and spent six hours on the phone today.  Since the villains behind it all are hoping to slip everything through unnoticed and start building at the end of April, there's not a ton of time to drum up widespread local opposition.  The local politicians are in the pocket of the developers; the enviromental groups so far are wimping out, as is the DEP; I haven't heard back from the lawyer yet.

So they're taking out a sardine packing plant and replacing it with luxury condo's and you're pissed?

Fuck, yeah.  I'd give anything to have the old sardine-packing plant up and running again.  One hundred jobs--crappy but at least regular--and the location being used for more than entertainment for one month out of the year for the idle rich.  Hell, if the plan were to put up low-income housing for year-round residents, I'd support it.  But this is an effort to turn Lubec into one of those horrors found in southern Maine; it will destroy part of the town in return for very little.

Like in the movies, I always root for the villain in these little disputes.

I appreciate your honesty.

So I'm of no help.

I'll expect none.

The release memo for the next book I'm editing ends with the sentence "Readers will understand why villagers would opt to join the Maoists, fight back, and keep their land and property instead of having to flee."  I wish I had some Maoists to join.

P.S.  I wish all I had to worry about right now was a bad ska band.

[Stan]

P.S.  I wish all I had to worry about right now was a bad ska band.

 The idle rich have children, who, in turn have ska bands. This whole situation is probably far worse than you ever imagined.

[Fido]

I would contact local politicians, environmental groups, enironmental lawyers. You need some sort of injuntion to stop them.

I have to chime in and offer an unhelpful comment -- it reminds me of another movie, namely, Sunshine State!!

But seriously, Richard has the right idea. 

[Sarah]

One that I started pursuing at 7:30 this morning.  So far with little success.  At this point, I think my best bet will be to fan the fires of local resentment, at least so that the project is delayed, allowing the time to muster more organized, official opposition.  I have a feeling that if there's a general outcry in town, the politicos, environmental groups, etc., will be far more interested in jumping on the bandwagon.  I will continue to seek the support of these types, but I've already been advised (by someone at the regional land trust) that fomenting grass-roots resistance is a vital first step.

If I'm murdered as a result of all this, I count on you all to avenge me.

[Richard_From_CHI]

I will avenge thee!

[Sarah]

My hero!

[Stan]

Avenge me boys! Avenge me!

[Sarah]

What a good likeness!

[Jason]

Have you considered dressing up as a ghost and trying to scare them off?

[Sarah]

I believe that option was proposed in the chat last summer.  I'll keep it in mind, though I think the mastermind behind this venture might be too oblivious to notice any haunting I attempted.