Re: “Maine Voices: Time for Soul of Portland to quit its campaign and take walks for its views” (July 3):

The ancient Greeks used the word “soul” for what is alive. Plato believed soul to be the eternal occupant of our being. Some religions teach that even nonbiological entities – rivers and mountains, landscapes, seascapes – possess souls.

What about Portland Harbor, the air we breathe, this boundless blue bounty of sea, islands, sky, sunrise over the Eastern Promenade?

I won’t try defining what the soul of our city is but will assert it’s not measurable in dollars. It not only belongs to all of us but also is created in part by us.

Now Save the Soul of Portland, numbering some 2,500 residents, is demanding that developers of the Portland Co. project, known as CPB2, submit a plan for how it means to fulfill the obligation of providing sufficient access – both visual and ambulatory – to the vast natural beauty of our harborfront between Casco Bay and a stretch along Fore Street on the way up Munjoy Hill.

If current zoning to protect our interest in natural resources is “working well,” as opponents of the Soul of Portland referendum would have us believe – and height differences for the proposed structures on the Portland Co. property “are small” – then why have the developers been unwilling to submit a plan showing what they intend to build? And why did the City Council grant CPB2 a zone change without the opportunity to review such a plan?

The Soul of Portland referendum is aimed at resolving these issues, as well as similar future ones. As it stands, the City Council can either put the Soul of Portland referendum to the voters or pass it into law.


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