Your headline on one of the articles in your “No Vacancy” series – “Pain and joy of development: Renovation leaves tenant homeless, while couple builds dream condo on Munjoy Hill,” Nov. 15 – clearly suggests that a particular condominium project on Munjoy Hill has left a former tenant homeless.
However, it’s clear from the article that this is not the case.
The tenant story refers to another building that the owners decided to renovate; the condo project is new construction elsewhere on the Hill. I know and respect Susan Morris and Chip Newell, developers of 118 Congress St., and would have been very surprised if their project had left such a legacy.
There is, of course, an indirect connection.
Munjoy Hill has become ripe for high-end new construction and renovation, and moderately priced housing is being replaced with units priced beyond the reach of many.
Portland’s foray into “inclusionary zoning” is one attempt to deal with the problem.
But as Portland debates a variety of measures to keep our city an economically diverse community, I hope that we’ll not automatically vilify developers who work within the existing zoning and housing policy rules.
Arthur Fink
Peaks Island
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