Patricia Youland
100 Tolman Street
Westbrook, Maine 04092
207-856-1830
Shake, rattle and roll describe life on Tolman Street these days.
Yes, for weeks now, beginning at 7 a.m., my house shakes with tremors stronger than any earthquake I’ve ever experienced living in Maine. Windows rattle from the vibration, door jams creak from the stress, and the 46-ton dump trucks continue to roll up and down our street all day long, hauling out rich topsoil and replacing it with, well, I don’t know what.
I counted 23 trips the other day before I left for work and they were still rolling by. I have to admit, I had no idea the infrastructure of our city streets were designed and engineered to withstand so much weight.
Yes, all this is to the credit of our representatives on the Westbrook Planning Board, who unanimously approved this development and who voted with indifference to the strong opposition by residents with requests for scaling down the project. What once stood as a forest of 30-plus years’ growth is now all gone, bare, flattened, exposing the ever-present view of our paper mill and smoke stacks. I am reminded of this town’s heritage each day as I exit my driveway.
Isn’t this a view every homeowner would opt for? Shouldn’t something so historic add value to my property? And you should see it at night. Wow, all those lights – it looks like a big city skylin@#, oops, sorry about the typo, my house is vibrating again. It will be so beautiful on a snowy evening, just aglow.
I encourage all of you, especially the planning board members, to take a drive over to Tolman Street and see what I’m talking about. We’re right off Main Street, near the car wash. I’ve been hoping to see some of you around, but darn, I guess I’ve missed you stopping by.
It’s too bad the original owners of this land aren’t around anymore to experience the pulse and excitement this project is providing for their former neighbors. Gee, they wouldn’t even recognize the place. With the project as it looks now, I wonder why I ever had concerns or doubts about our planning board’s role to create developments that preserve, plan and protect existing homes for us taxpaying residents, and fairly represent all parties involved.
This project will become a personal legacy of each member and the seat they filled during their time as public servants. It clearly shows a cohesive vision they have set forth in our town to integrate old and new neighborhoods.
I don’t know how much more of this abuse our home can endure or the structural repairs it may create. We love our home, and its restoration has taken years to achieve through our sweat and efforts, as many of our neighbors can attest to – including those who sold this parcel now being developed. It saddens me to feel its walls shake, its foundation tremble after it’s provided so many years of a safe haven and welcomed us home.
I would never consider subjecting my neighbors or their homes, their lives, their investments, to the conditions we have had to endure. I believe a middle ground could have been reached for all interests involved, but such an opportunity was lost rather than encouraged, actually stifled by the planning board.
I hope every voter thinks of this when it is time for re-election, and looks at the way our city is being altered with high-density developments.
From the top down, it’s time to clean house, before our own crumble under the guise of development.
Patricia Youland is a resident of Westbrook.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
