At the May 13 Cape Elizabeth Town Council meeting, a public hearing was held on placing a non-binding referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot. This referendum is a “yes” or “no” question, asking voters if they support affordable housing on town-owned land at Gull Crest. The town council will discuss this again at their June meeting.
In 2023, town council authorized an $85,000 engineering study of the site, conducted by Sebago Technics. The findings of that study determined that development of that site would be challenging because of sloping land, ledge, wetlands, expensive storm water controls and potential contamination from the adjacent landfill.
In addition, an exhaustive 360-page report by the town’s Housing Diversity Study Committee concluded with the following recommendation:
“Based on the lack of community support, the likely need for considerable town taxpayer subsidy, the locational challenges, the significant environmental concerns and the presence of alternative options for affordable housing development that do not include these issues, the Committee is recommending the town take no further action or utilization of taxpayer resources for the development of housing at Gull Crest, but recommends the town consider studying the southern section for development potential.”
Voters of Cape Elizabeth should vote “no” if this referendum appears on the ballot in November. Stop this senseless waste of time and money on a site with serious environmental and engineering issues.
Attend the June meeting. Insist that town council spend time and money on realistic solutions to affordable housing in Cape Elizabeth.
Francis Walsh
Cape Elizabeth
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