40B, Part V - Epilogue

I don't think I answered Mr. S' question, which was "What is your position on the two new 40B projects announced for the Ballymeade area?"

So let's...

Last fall, I spoke in favor of the CLSV proposal to develop that parcel. I felt that the retail and hotel space would provide valuable tax revenue. We often forget that Falmouth has lost hundreds of hotel rooms - and the room tax - to timeshares.

I also thought that as a location for a rink it was second to none. As anyone who's ever had to travel knows, being able to get to your destination by simply turning off the highway is - for lack of a better word - delightful. It would also keep traffic out of the downtown area, which we all know can get pretty congested at times.

That said; I was disappointed that CLSV didn't bother to get the deed restrictions ironed out before town meeting. Aside from the fact that it is simply not right to ask the town to rezone the land without a signed agreement, the lack of such an agreement prevented a full and open debate about the benefits/drawbacks to that project.

Now CLSV - or whatever they call themselves - is making good on their 40B threat probably because town meeting didn't rezone their land last fall. Frankly, they've only themselves to blame for bringing an incomplete proposal to town meeting, so I'm not sure what their beef is.

The irony is that these two projects - 151 and Ballymeade - will compete against each other. Perhaps there's a market for 400+ homes in this area, but I think the 151 plan may be intended to raise the value of the land so the town - which has first right of refusal - will have to buy it if we want to stop the "dreaded 40B."

How we move forward on this is open to debate. It would be worthwile to talk to the developers to see if we can come to an agreement that benefits everyone. As I've said previously, we live in a capitalistic society, and whether we like it or not, these folks own this property and they have the right to develop it within the applicable local and state regulations. However, development takes time, costs money and has its share of headaches. If these folks can make a fair profit without developing the property, they just might. If we can purchase the property at a fair price, we should.

As for Ballymeade...I honestly don't know enough about that project to comment just yet.

All that said; we have to realize that whatever we're doing, it will be a reaction, which brings me back to one of the planks in my platform:

The town administration needs to be more proactive, or we'll just be seeing more of this.

We CAN do better.