To the Editor:
I’m amazed that Peter Drum and the selectmen of Newcastle have taken it upon themselves to harass and badger Newcastle Center owners Paul and Debbie Sidelinger to shut down nearly half of their apartment/business building.
A simple variance was all that was needed to correct what was, in my estimation, a problem which stemmed solely from your predecessors’ ineptitude or, at least, lack of attention to detail more than 15 years ago.
According to Mr. Sidelinger, you are giving Newcastle Center 30 days as of Monday, June 10, to essentially kick out onto the street six of its current occupants for no better reason than the town cannot produce copies of building permits which allowed Newcastle Center to build more than the zoned six units on that particular property on Academy Hill Road.
The Sidelingers have all the plumbing permits issued by the town code enforcement officer, the same individual who would have issued the building permits, and they never increased the footprint of the building, but because no-one seems to know what happened to the building permits, the onus has fallen on the Sidelingers to “prove” they used the proper channels and filed the proper paperwork a decade and a half ago.
I say from my vantage point that this smacks of the lawyer pushing the town fathers into pursuing a matter solely to line his pockets. In all those years, there have been no complaints, either to the town or any other authority, of problems due to the 12 apartments, and many people who would have had a hard time finding any other affordable housing in Newcastle were able to get a start in this area by dint of the Newcastle Center.
Also, the town has had no problem using the Center for extra classroom space when such was needed for Lincoln Academy on many different occasions as well as other civic events. Paul and Debbie have been very conspicuous in their support and contributions to the town of Newcastle as well as the surrounding communities.
All in all, this appears to be a witch hunt with no obvious benefit to the town and with obvious detriment to the Sidelingers and the six tenants who are to be ousted within 30 days of Monday, June 10.
Indeed, it brings into play many disadvantages if one considers that not everyone can afford to own or rent a house around here, and the businesses in the area need workers who live nearby. Plus, Newcastle Center will be re-evaluated for tax purposes and the town will lose thousands of dollars in taxes as a result; taxes the Sidelingers were assessed as the building was finished off and have paid throughout the last 15 or more years.
Paul and Debbie have worked for close to 20 years on this project, hoping to build a business which would take them with some comfort and grace through their approaching retirement. Apparently, enough members of the Newcastle Board of Selectmen, and their lawyer Peter Drum, have little to no concern for the fate of the Sidelingers and the people who look to the Sidelingers for a chance to live in the beautiful but priority-challenged town of Newcastle.
I’m not a resident of Newcastle. I live all the way over in Damariscotta Mills, in Nobleboro, but I see this as an outrage and abuse of power that is both unnecessary and uncalled for, and I have spoken informally with many local residents who have expressed similar feelings. I ask the residents of Newcastle to let the selectmen know that people should come before regulations, especially when it was the Newcastle town government that allowed this debacle to occur in the first place.
