To the Editor:
We urge the voters of South Bristol to adopt the proposed Comprehensive Plan at the town Meeting Referendum Vote on Mon., Aug. 8 at the South Bristol School.
After reviewing the proposed plan in detail, and particularly Chapter 19 “Future Land Use,” we were happy to find that the plan has, in our opinion, identified the interests common to year-round and part-time residents, all of whom love South Bristol and have expressed through the written survey and visioning sessions, a strong desire to “keep South Bristol the way it is.”
The plan evaluates and analyzes these comments and determines that “keeping South Bristol the way it is” means maintaining South Bristol as a maritime village set in a rural countryside. The plan has found the common ground between the wishes of full-time residents to preserve a traditional way of life and the wishes of part-time residents to maintain the town as a rural retreat.
There may be some misunderstanding about what a comprehensive plan really is and what it is not. An adopted plan is not a law or regulation and has no direct impact on anyone’s property rights. It is simply a statement of the town’s collective vision for its own future and creates a reference point for determining whether any ordinances the town may choose to enact in the future are consistent with this vision.
Most towns (70 percent) in Maine have adopted comprehensive plans under Maine’s Growth Management Act. An adopted plan improves the possibility of grants from the State.
The South Bristol plan has been endorsed by the town’s Planning Board, the Lincoln County Planner, and has received favorable comments from the State Planning Office.
It makes sense to adopt the plan.
Gail and Dick Shand, South Bristol
