On May 29, the Falmouth Town Council will decide whether to sell land to a developer or to delay and implement workforce housing for town employees. Supporting the building of $425,000, three-story, 1,000-square-foot townhomes does not support workforce housing – town employees cannot afford them.
A group of Falmouth residents has been trying to persuade the council that they are going in the wrong direction. We do not know whether the council heard us, and May 29 is Judgment Day.
We believe that workforce housing should help town employees with discounted solutions that include the use of state and/or federal housing subsidies to reduce the cost of housing to employees. Using the spur development alternative with one- to three-bedroom high-rise condos would be a much better solution.
The council will also decide whether to support the town’s long-term plans or to ignore them. Building 49 townhomes on Woods Road by cutting down trees so 14 buildings can be built next to each other is not consistent with long-term plans.
When the town sold adjacent properties, it added restrictions to “maintain in a forested state a buffer strip” and to “maintain in a natural state the wetlands area.” Will the council put these same restrictions on the land it sells to the developer?
More residents need to make their voices heard before May 29. If we do nothing, we will have to live with the decision to clear cut the trees and the “townhomes” being built.
It’s your Judgment Day as well.
Speak up and let the Town Council know how you feel. Call a councilor. Send them an email. America was founded because citizens chose to let their voices be heard.
James Solley
Falmouth
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