Thanks to Rob Goldberg for his valuable service as chair of the planning commission. At the recent forum concerning harbor expansion, Mr. Goldberg set parameters and maintained order while being responsive to and respectful of public input.
As challenging as the task was, the meeting provided a forum where citizens were heard and concerns addressed. The borough’s decision to grant itself a permit to fill an expanse of waterfront property has been appealed.
Whether that decision is determined to be improper or not, the intended and acknowledged goal of filling four acres of prime waterfront is to prepare the ground for an expanded parking lot, boat storage, and repair yard. That development will require a permit or permits which, as things stand, will come before the planning commission only after the site has been readied for the projected use.
Should this plan proceed, the borough may well avoid provisions of the comprehensive plan.
Meanwhile, the fill of such a large area will have served to appropriate and change a valuable community resource, Haines’ waterfront, without the planning commission’s consideration of whether or not the plan is in the public interest.
I commend and thank Mr. Goldberg and four other planning commission members for recommending extension of the bidding period for the harbor project. It is to be hoped this interlude may provide breathing space in which the community can heal its rift and reach consensus on a harbor plan that satisfies the needs of all.
Jean Meaux