On Monday, (Sept. 10), the Cape Elizabeth
Town Council will hold a public hearing to gather input on
recommendations and findings contained in a draft update to the town's
1993 Comprehensive Plan.

    The plan itself is an impressive document.
Thorough,  yet accessible to the average reader, the plan offers
the public a variety of statistics and facts about the community, the
town's economy, open space and financial wherewithal.

    A contentious piece of the plan are recommendations
to allow high density in certain residential neighborhoods, while
discouraging it in others.

    At the same time, a proposal to build a senior
oriented condominium complex with more than 45 units in an existing
residential neighborhood targets for growth is headed toward the
planning board with opposition already being registered.

    While the comprehensive plan aims to take a broader
view of development trends, the two issues are sure to be
conflated  at Monday's meeting as neighbors who have learned about
the condominium proposal focus on the document that encourages such a
project to be constructed where it is proposed.

    The Comprehensive Plan makes an extensive case for
more affordable, higher density housing that offers an alternative to
the predominant single family home.

    But such projects must be built somewhere and the
town's preference for where that housing should be is well and long-
established.

    Dramatically changing such policies at this point in
the process, may be difficult. But those who disagree and don't speak
up will have ten years or more to fine tune their arguments before the
next comprehensive plan is drafted.      
                
–Ward Peck