Leona Glidden’s letter to the A.J. published in the issue of May 18 could very well have been written about the town of Gorham simply by changing the location of the proposed development she writes about.

For quite some time now, there has been a wholesale issuance of building permits for both condominiums and upper-end, mostly large, single-family homes in developments ranging from a few units to a multitude of units in all sections of Gorham on almost every piece of open space. As in Westbrook as Ms. Glidden notes, most of the developers are “out-of-towners” although there are a number of local contractors and a lumber and building supply company who benefit from this building boom.

Gorham was once considered a rural community, actually not too very long ago, with many large farms, both dairy and agricultural, and with a modest and stable population of slightly over 5,000. Most of the farms are now gone, having been or soon to be replaced by developments (those that haven’t are sprouting for-sale signs showing the acreage available), and the town’s population is rapidly approaching 15,000.

Some of the tracts which have been, are being, or soon-to-be, developed are in areas where instead of residential units, clean commercial development (which the town most certainly needs) could have taken place without having a significant impact on the surrounding area as would have been the case for a recently-defeated proposal for the South Gorham area. The town is also in dire need of new cemetery space; I believe there is only one cemetery in town left where unsold plots are available. A cemetery is a good neighbor – the residents are quiet and well-behaved, have no impact on community services, and their surroundings are well-maintained. One couldn’t ask for a better neighbor.

At the last planning board meeting which had a five-item agenda, of which four involved residential development consisting of more than 30 units, I spoke on a mostly-unrelated subject. However, I did take the opportunity to interject my belief that it is time, if not long past time, for the town of Gorham to impose a building moratorium or, at least, put a restriction on the number of building permits to be issued each year; other towns have done this, successfully I believe. The cost to the town for services needfully provided to all of the new residential units outpaces the valuation thereby causing an annual increase in the tax rate, this year being the same exception probably never to happen again.

Gorham will never be what it once was, but do we want it to be one of the top 10 communities in the state in terms of population? Is bigger, better? Do we want to change its name to the “city of Gorham, Maine?” Think about it; although probably not in my lifetime, any or all of these things could happen unless something is done to slow the pace of residential construction and population growth. I urge our town officials to do something about it or for the voters to find ones who will.

John Bump

South Gorham

Copy the Story Link