Editor:

This is in response to Brian Norton’s overly-harsh (might I say nasty?) letter about Rosemarie De Angelis published in your Sept. 12 issue. In an earlier letter to the Sentry she had called a new office building going up on Waterman Drive  “ugly.” When she was a member of the city council Ms. De Angelis took a leading role in the activities of the steering committee that over a period of more than six months developed the Knightville/Millcreek neighborhood plan.

This plan was adopted by the city but was soon overruled when the council approved construction of the four-story building that Ms. De Angelis calls “very ugly.”  When the building came before the council for approval the members of the steering committee and a majority of the neighbors spoke passionately against it. Their objection was that the building was out of scale with the surrounding buildings. The neighborhood plan calls for the taller buildings to be centered on Ocean Street.

These residents and the community volunteers on the steering committee felt betrayed by the council’s action. Ms. De Angelis was giving vent to emotions felt by us all.

Alan  D. Johnson

South Portland