The referendum vote coming up in North Yarmouth should be rejected. Please vote “no” March 15, and here’s why:

Most of the publicity, talk and yard signs are about sprawl, but sprawl is not actually on the ballot! The count of annual permits is on the ballot.

Sprawl means “spreading out over a large area in an untidy or irregular way.” Therefore, controlled growth in our plan-defined Village Center is the exact opposite of sprawl. So if your basic instinct is to control or prevent sprawl, then logically, you would vote “no.”

The proposed number of 15 permits for an annual total in the Village Center District and Village Residential District combined is too small a number, and counterproductive. It is an overreactive limit and not needed. The political stance underlying the idea is a vote of no-confidence in the judgment and intelligence of our town’s staff, especially the Planning Board’s leadership.

The lack of new housing in our town might also have unintended consequences of causing an additional, sudden rise of property values beyond reason. Guess what follows an explosion of rising prices? The next property revaluation might find you paying more anyway for your property – even though you didn’t improve it.

I see the referendum as an amateur move, a short-circuit of our town processes and boards and, therefore, unworthy of a “yes” vote.

Please stay the course. Avoid this sudden and unwarranted intrusion by voting “no.”

Thanks for reading and responding with input. I appreciate it.

John K. Fulton
North Yarmouth