To the editor:

The neighbors of the Plant Home take exception to your Feb. 3 editorial, “Be Fair to the Plant Home,” because the city of Bath has been more than fair to the Plant Home.

The city of Bath worked to create a unique “Plant Home zone” for the benefit of the Plant Home. Afterwards, the “maelstrom” of legal issues cited in your editorial arose largely because the Plant Home illegally subdivided its property prior to the city’s creation of that zone.

Further, this illegal subdivision was discovered while evaluating the Plant Home’s previous site plan for a massive building on the promontory point that extends into the Kennebec River at the gateway to Bath by water.

The earlier site plan was submitted with a design that did not adequately serve a frail elder population, an incomplete application, out-of-scale renderings that did not show true building mass and with the need for waivers to shoreland protection statutes, and tree loss protection statues.

It was also out of scale with the surrounding neighborhoods, contrary to Bath’s comprehensive plan.

We understand what an asset the Plant Home is to the people of Bath and we hope subsequent plans do better than this.

Despite Thomas Plant’s vision, it is unclear if the majority of Bath residents would be able to afford the new development due to its positioning for an upscale market which typically expects to pay more than $4,000 monthly per unit with additional charges for a spouse and more services.

The implication that it is not fair to require the Plant Home to comply with an open municipal planning process and existing laws is an affront to all who believe in democracy and working for the good of our community in the city of Bath.

Submitted by neighbors to the Plant Home,

Martha Andrews, Phyllis Bailey,
Dr. Matthew Carroll, Kevin Connors,
Fred Denson, Henry Hall,
Victoria Jackson, Nate and Wendy Jung,
Kathy and Alan Miller, Julie Rice

letters@timesrecord.com