When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary to resist the powers that be who would usurp the people’s right to know “what’s going on” – now is the time for action. In our case, the powers that are coming to bear against Old Orchard Beach involve the following:
1. The billion-dollar coffee mogul Dunkin’ Donuts, who are trying to grind their way into another location that would (if built) severely impact the already-stressed traffic situation in and around the area that includes the intersection of Smithwheel Road and Ocean Park Road (Route 5). The area in question used to be Windsor Cabins. The motel included about half a dozen one or two room cabins, a pool a residence/ office and a small parking area.
2. The owners of the property decided to sell, and apparently some DD real estate “experts” sniffed the site as an ideal location to brew and screw the locals. The immediate victims of the completed facility would be the abutters to the site, namely the residents of the condos on the southern as well as the northern side of Smithwheel.
Note: Residents of OOB are pretty familiar with the two major intersections that exist for commuters to reach Route 1 and/or the turnpike. Traffic lights at intersection of Saco Avenue and OOB’s fire house and the light at Ocean Park Road and Route 1 (Hannaford’s) are already chokepoints during the off-season rush hours, but during the regular season (May through September) gridlock becomes the name of the game – especially cars and pedestrians trying to negotiate their way into or out of Smithwheel to or from Ocean Park Road.
In short, the potential of another facility (DD) to exacerbate the traffic situation seems to many OOB residents a formula for gridlock at many points, some of which may well cause fatal accidents involving cars as well as pedestrians.
3. Currently, the process for our town’s approval of the proposed project is floating between the OOB Planning Board, the Town Council and the planning director. Most of the preliminary discussions have taken place with scant input by town residents – who are only lately learning about the scale of the project as well as the sanguine assumptions being put forward by outside “experts” – with little or no empirical evidence of summer season traffic conditions.
Despite petitions signed by worried residents about DD’s plans as well as the seeming lack of effort to include public participation in all of the debates and discussions which have occurred, our town is virtually on the verge of a fait accompli. Is this any way to run a town in America? I say no. And I urge other citizens to help stop the steamroller antics of our current Planning Board. Attend the next board meeting scheduled for this Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall Council Chambers.
Fred Dolgon
Old Orchard Beach
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