Everything that takes place in life has an unintended consequence. The consequence may be large or it may be small, but it is always there. Waiting to rear up and makes its point known.

I hope everyone saw the news of the generous gift from the Crooker family. Nearly 200 acres of land for use as recreation space in East Brunswick. The land has a number of terrain features that will make it useful for people all over town whether they are hiking, fishing, swimming or doing any number of things that the land will support.

Through this gift the Crooker family continues to support the community and provide a lasting legacy far beyond that of their name emblazoned on the ubiquitous yellow vehicles. Provided that the Town can adequately implement a plan for the use of the land, this is sure to be remembered as a great achievement for all of us who live in town.

While I am excited about the possibilities of the land and what can be done with it there is that unintended consequence that comes from a situation like this. About a month ago there was a sad story about a man, Russell Williams, who died, alone, along a set of railroad tracks not far from Maine Street.

Mr. Williams was a sort of forgotten man. A man without permanent roots, he laid his head where he could. When he could. Eventually he was found again, forgotten, next to a set of seldom used railroad tracks within sight of warm, welcoming places. Unfortunately, the warmth of his sleeping bag having given out, Mr. Williams succumbed to the elements.

News reports, after his passing, suggested that Mr. Williams had had a voucher for an apartment but was not able to find one locally. Some of those same reports spoke to the lack of affordable housing in the area and what a burden that is for those among us that need some help. For a town and area that are so welcoming and inviting the most challenging issue for many is finding a permanent place to lay one’s head.

Brunswick has a finite amount of land. We are not creating anymore.

Think of the town of Brunswick as a big cake. If you carve out a piece here and carve out a piece there and stipulate that those pieces will not be eaten it makes the rest of the cake more expensive as there are fewer pieces. If it is really good cake, and most in Brunswick think it is, then there will be people willing to spend ever increasing amounts of money on that cake. At some point, what was a $2 piece of cake becomes $5. What was a $5 piece of cake becomes $10. Eventually there will be many who are priced out of the cake buying business. Mr. Williams, even with the voucher, seems to have not been able to buy, or even rent, that piece of cake.

This brings me back to the generous land gift. With this most recent gift and several others that have been donated over the years the usable amount of land in Brunswick is shrinking. At the same time the amount of money needed for the municipal and school budget is increasing. The land that is currently owned by people in Brunswick is more expensive and land that people are looking to buy in town is more expensive.

Where it impacts affordable housing and rental housing is in the return on investment. A landowner needs to cover their expenses. If the tax bill goes up the rent must go up. Even a modest increase of $25 or $30 a month may be enough that it pushes someone out of their housing. It may push someone to the street. It may push someone like a Russell Williams to live in sleeping bag by a set of tracks.

We should applaud the generosity of the Crooker family and their willingness to provide such a wonderful gift to the town, but while we applaud, we need to also realize how gifts like this can put a strain on an already fragile affordable housing market. Every time land comes off of the tax roles, for whatever purpose, the land that remains becomes more expensive and therefore may create a hardship for those just trying to get by.

Jonathan Crimmins can be reached at j_crimmins@hotmail.com

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