PORTLAND, Maine - A group of Portland residents launched a new campaign Wednesday to oppose what they're calling a "destructive referendum" that would block development in Maine's biggest city.
Question 2 on this November's city ballot is a proposal to amend the current land use ordinance - something that proponents say is needed to protect some of Portland's most distinctive scenic viewpoints from runaway development.
A new political action committee, called Portland's Future, held its official launch in the city's Bayside neighborhood - scene of a number of residential and business development projects, some complete, some still on the drawing board.
It's this kind of economic growth that could be threatened by the passage of Question 2, says architect Paul Stevens. "I have lived in Portland for over 50 years and have never seen proposed planning legislation that would be as damaging to the community as this."
Stevens, a board member of the Portland Society for Architecture, says Question 2 sets a dangerous precedent by allowing a small group of disaffected residents to co-opt the planning process and halt what he calls "quality development."
He also criticized the referendum's plan to reform the rezoning process, requiring property developers to make their plans public before City Hall can grant a rezoning request. "This is a really poor idea because few developers will spend the resources to design a project prior to knowing if they'll be able to get the property rezoned."
The impetus for Question 2 sprang from community opposition to the planned development at 58 Fore Street - a 10-acre industrial site on Portland's waterfront that a real estate group wants to develop for mixed use.
Jess Knox is co-chair of Portland's Future, which he says expects to get support and financial help from the Fore Street developers. But he says it's not just about that project. "It's about the discussion that we're having in the city about how we welcome people who want to be engaged and who want to love this city."
Knox warns that Question 2 could challenge even the smallest projects, such as the addition of a flagpole or a new porch on a house. "This referendum could be used as a tool by anyone who opposes almost any change in the city - the exact opposite of creating an atmosphere of openness and welcomeness to new ideas and new people here in Portland."
"I think they're using fear, and they're trying to get people to vote their way because they do want to build above Fore Street," says Portland resident and former state senator Anne Rand. Rand is with a group called Soul of Portland, which was instrumental in drawing up the Question 2 referendum proposal.
"I would really love my grandchildren to be able to walk up and down Fore Street and see the same view that I saw when I was a kid and my father was fishing out of Portland harbor," Rand says.
The members of Portland's Future, she says, are mistaken in claiming that Question 2 will enable individuals to obstruct development projects - big or small - because they ruin a private view.
Rand says the measure proposes the setting up of a Scenic Viewpoint Task Force which would have three years to recommend a handful of public views along Portland's waterfront requiring extra safeguards against development. "Then they bring their recommendations to the City Council, then the City Council has final say. Individuals have absolutely no say under our ordinance to block anything."
Rand says Question 2 was drawn up out of concern that Portland councilors give developers too much of a free hand without listening to the concerns of citizens.
Councilor Jon Hinck rejects that characterization. The Fore Street project, he says, was "thoroughly reviewed under existing rules and procedures on the books in Portland."
He goes on say that Portland must be open to change and reject putting up needless roadblocks to everything new and ambitious. And if people are still concerned about the process, he says, they should support different candidates for public office.
