Mill supporters, community need to join the same team

We at the Pepperell Mill Campus feel that it is time to ring in on the issue of parking meters and public parking. This letter is not an attempt to sway the vote, so we have purposefully submitted this piece after voting day.

We have observed the vocal opposition misrepresenting the issues surrounding parking management. We have been portrayed as attempting to set up a back-room deal with the city in order to create parking for ourselves. We are distressed that the general public only sees how the vocal opposition is representing this subject. We sadly conclude that the vocal opposition does not see the value in the redevelopment of the downtown and mill district. Opposing progressive parking plans really means that you oppose the redevelopment of the mill district. If the mill district and Main Street do not redevelop, then the citizens will be stuck with rising city expenses, without the prospect of the offsetting value of rising real estate taxes (through mill district redevelopment). Where else in this city are we going to have the opportunity for a real increase in tax revenue?

We invite those who are opposed to this issue to come see all of the progress at the Pepperell Mill Campus. Call us at 282-5577, and we’ll give you a tour. There is so much good energy being created here, never mind the fact that 500 people either now live or work on the campus. We have a great mix of residents: 100 apartments of seniors, students and professionals. There are some 80 businesses thriving on-site: offices, light industrial, textile, artist studios, a brewery, restaurants, a distillery, retail, a child recreational center and a workout facility. To repeat: 500 people either live or work at the mill.

Paul Therrien should note that many real jobs have been created by this project already, and we are less than half completed with the Pepperell Mill’s redevelopment. We urge Paul Therrien to come for a tour.

Where do these mill residents and workers shop and eat? They shop and eat on Main Street. We all need to understand that “a rising tide truly floats all boats.” Main Street and the mill district benefit each other, and both will benefit the citizen taxpayer. It is time to get on the same team, and make progressive moves toward our collective future.

A well-planned parking system is critical to our future. I do not have to cite facts here: go to Lewiston, Portland, Portsmouth or Manchester, New Hampshire, or Lowell, Massachusetts. All of the mentioned municipalities found a way to provide structured parking, and it has paid dividends in the long run. Public parking should be viewed as infrastructure ”“ like a sewer line or a public water service. Infrastructure gets put in place to allow for the real estate tax base to grow.

We urge you to come tour the mill. We are proud that our hard work has yielded the build out and lease up of 350,000 square feet of mill space to date. Three hundred and fifty thousand square feet is equal to approximately two Walmart’s of interior space. Please come see that the words in this letter are not fabrications made up to support someone’s opinion. They are facts that can be easily verified by one’s own eyes.

We ask all of the citizens of Biddeford to understand that the redevelopment of the mill district is not threatening, but a good thing for all. It is time for all of us to realize that we should be on the same team, if we want to continue forward with the re-building of this community.

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