The Planning Board has officially rejected the zoning amendment requests for lots 25 and 38. This outcome ensures that our community maintains its rural character as intended by the Comprehensive Plan. I appreciate your commitment to protecting the local landscape and will continue to monitor future development proposals.
December 11, 2020
Final supporters
TO THOSE SIGNING THIS PETITION: PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT SOLICITED DONATIONS GO TO THE PETITION SITE, NOT TO A LOCAL GROUP. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY DONATED AND WOULD LIKE TO REQUEST A REFUND, PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS
To the Members of the Planning Board,
Please reject KV Enterprises' requests for zoning amendments for Lots 25 and 38, maps 22 and 26.
Freeport's Zoning Ordinance clearly states that “the purpose of this Ordinance is to implement the land use policies of the Comprehensive Plan."
The Comprehensive Plan specifically identifies development in rural areas and along roads as not being in the “best interests” of Freeport. By limiting development in rural areas, the plan aims to preserve the “open and rural nature” of our town. It states that “for the past 25 years, Comprehensive Planning has attempted to slow down the growth in rural areas yet the growth continues."
Approving KV's zoning change requests would violate the vision for Freeport outlined in the Freeport Comprehensive Plan.
The Court in Maine has observed that when a municipality adopts a Comprehensive Plan outlining the future growth and development of the community and a Zoning Ordinance to implement that plan, the people have concluded that the restrictions are necessary for the public benefit and the ordinance should be observed (1). In keeping with this sentiment, rezoning requests should only be granted when the benefits to the town are unquestionable, and when those benefits cannot be achieved in any other way.
In the case of KV's proposal, the benefits of this project to the town have been questioned by many, and a multitude of concerns have been raised. We therefore urge you to stand by our Zoning Ordinance and Comprehensive Plan and deny KV's requested zoning amendments now.
As for the goals of increasing Freeport's housing stock and addressing the decline of retail in the Village, these can be achieved in other ways: Rather than spending countless hours discussing KV's application, please refocus your energy on updating Freeport's Comprehensive Plan (and Zoning Ordinance, if necessary) to facilitate the revitalization of our downtown. As a community, we look forward to participating in this process and, together, preserving the open and rural nature of Freeport while re-claiming the vibrancy of our downtown.
(1) Patricia Finnigan, MMA Paralegal, Maine Townsman, December 1986.
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It has come to our attention that some who signed the petition also donated money through the petition site. Please be advised that if you donated, your contribution will be used by the company iPetition to run its own operation and will not be transferred to any local group.
In response to our inquiry about refunding all donations, this is what iPetition had to say:
“If
someone made a contribution in error, we are more than happy to issue
a refund - they just need to contact us from the address used to make
the payment, and tell us the amount and the ID number for the
transaction in question.
We
cannot issue blanket refunds, as we cannot tell who donated for what
reason, but we will refund any payment that we receive a direct
request for.”
If
you would like to request a refund, please contact Alex at
[email protected].
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
November 10, 2020
November 10, 2020
The feedback from local residents has highlighted a shared commitment to preserving our town's rural character as outlined in the Comprehensive Plan. I am currently compiling your concerns into a formal presentation for the upcoming Planning Board review. Please continue to monitor this space for updates regarding the schedule of those proceedings.
Reached 100 supporters
November 10, 2020
November 7, 2020
The number of signatures is nearing one hundred. Please circulate this request within your immediate networks to ensure our position is clear before the upcoming board review.
92 Comments
Rezoning the LLBean property will forever change the rural character of our town and violates our Comprehensive Plan. As a retiree of LLBean’s Outdoor Discovery department, it also violates the company vision “Be An Outsider”.
I support the towns current comprehensive plan written to preserve the rural character of the town and allow revitalizing the village center. I support LL Beans goals related to the shared joy of the outdoors. Building 7 homes per acre on a wooded rural lot seems to contradict that joy of the outdoors objective.
A development of that magnitude will have very negative impact on schools, traffic, social services and many more other areas. Most importantly, people will stop coming to the "Vacation Land" when it turns into suburbia.
Our downtown village has much potential for re-development for residential buildings and resources for Freeporters, as well as visitors. I'm not anti-growth but see value in optimising land already disturbed.
We love our town just the way it is! No zoning changes! No overcrowded schools! This is the town that banned chain stores and made McDonald's inhabit a colonial house! Let's continue to make Freeport a great place to live. (Shame on you, LL Bean, for selling out! I thought you were our anchor.)
Lets protect the rural areas and bring community living into downtown Freeport's main street instead ... get rid of a town center thats a dead mall ... lets think out of the box and envision something other than retail shopping for our town.
KV enterprises does not appear to have Freeport commerce nor citizens in mind at all! Please limit their requests to go forward with their plans!
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The Planning Board has officially rejected the zoning amendment requests for lots 25 and 38. This outcome ensures that our community maintains its rural character as intended by the Comprehensive Plan. I appreciate your commitment to protecting the local landscape and will continue to monitor future development proposals.
December 11, 2020
Final supporters
TO THOSE SIGNING THIS PETITION: PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT SOLICITED DONATIONS GO TO THE PETITION SITE, NOT TO A LOCAL GROUP. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY DONATED AND WOULD LIKE TO REQUEST A REFUND, PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS
To the Members of the Planning Board,
Please reject KV Enterprises' requests for zoning amendments for Lots 25 and 38, maps 22 and 26.
Freeport's Zoning Ordinance clearly states that “the purpose of this Ordinance is to implement the land use policies of the Comprehensive Plan."
The Comprehensive Plan specifically identifies development in rural areas and along roads as not being in the “best interests” of Freeport. By limiting development in rural areas, the plan aims to preserve the “open and rural nature” of our town. It states that “for the past 25 years, Comprehensive Planning has attempted to slow down the growth in rural areas yet the growth continues."
Approving KV's zoning change requests would violate the vision for Freeport outlined in the Freeport Comprehensive Plan.
The Court in Maine has observed that when a municipality adopts a Comprehensive Plan outlining the future growth and development of the community and a Zoning Ordinance to implement that plan, the people have concluded that the restrictions are necessary for the public benefit and the ordinance should be observed (1). In keeping with this sentiment, rezoning requests should only be granted when the benefits to the town are unquestionable, and when those benefits cannot be achieved in any other way.
In the case of KV's proposal, the benefits of this project to the town have been questioned by many, and a multitude of concerns have been raised. We therefore urge you to stand by our Zoning Ordinance and Comprehensive Plan and deny KV's requested zoning amendments now.
As for the goals of increasing Freeport's housing stock and addressing the decline of retail in the Village, these can be achieved in other ways: Rather than spending countless hours discussing KV's application, please refocus your energy on updating Freeport's Comprehensive Plan (and Zoning Ordinance, if necessary) to facilitate the revitalization of our downtown. As a community, we look forward to participating in this process and, together, preserving the open and rural nature of Freeport while re-claiming the vibrancy of our downtown.
(1) Patricia Finnigan, MMA Paralegal, Maine Townsman, December 1986.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It has come to our attention that some who signed the petition also donated money through the petition site. Please be advised that if you donated, your contribution will be used by the company iPetition to run its own operation and will not be transferred to any local group.
In response to our inquiry about refunding all donations, this is what iPetition had to say:
“If
someone made a contribution in error, we are more than happy to issue
a refund - they just need to contact us from the address used to make
the payment, and tell us the amount and the ID number for the
transaction in question.
We
cannot issue blanket refunds, as we cannot tell who donated for what
reason, but we will refund any payment that we receive a direct
request for.”
If
you would like to request a refund, please contact Alex at
[email protected].
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
November 10, 2020
November 10, 2020
The feedback from local residents has highlighted a shared commitment to preserving our town's rural character as outlined in the Comprehensive Plan. I am currently compiling your concerns into a formal presentation for the upcoming Planning Board review. Please continue to monitor this space for updates regarding the schedule of those proceedings.
Reached 100 supporters
November 10, 2020
November 7, 2020
The number of signatures is nearing one hundred. Please circulate this request within your immediate networks to ensure our position is clear before the upcoming board review.
92 Comments
The proposed parcel is part of the Cousins River watershed. A project of this magnitude would have a serious effect on the quality of the run-off. Think of all the nitrogen being washed into the estuary. This is not an appropriate use of this land and LL Bean should not be a part of it.
Rezoning the LLBean property will forever change the rural character of our town and violates our Comprehensive Plan. As a retiree of LLBean’s Outdoor Discovery department, it also violates the company vision “Be An Outsider”.
I support the towns current comprehensive plan written to preserve the rural character of the town and allow revitalizing the village center. I support LL Beans goals related to the shared joy of the outdoors. Building 7 homes per acre on a wooded rural lot seems to contradict that joy of the outdoors objective.
A development of that magnitude will have very negative impact on schools, traffic, social services and many more other areas. Most importantly, people will stop coming to the "Vacation Land" when it turns into suburbia.
Our downtown village has much potential for re-development for residential buildings and resources for Freeporters, as well as visitors. I'm not anti-growth but see value in optimising land already disturbed.
We love our town just the way it is! No zoning changes! No overcrowded schools! This is the town that banned chain stores and made McDonald's inhabit a colonial house! Let's continue to make Freeport a great place to live. (Shame on you, LL Bean, for selling out! I thought you were our anchor.)
Lets protect the rural areas and bring community living into downtown Freeport's main street instead ... get rid of a town center thats a dead mall ... lets think out of the box and envision something other than retail shopping for our town.
KV enterprises does not appear to have Freeport commerce nor citizens in mind at all! Please limit their requests to go forward with their plans!
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The proposed parcel is part of the Cousins River watershed. A project of this magnitude would have a serious effect on the quality of the run-off. Think of all the nitrogen being washed into the estuary. This is not an appropriate use of this land and LL Bean should not be a part of it.