Time for planning board to hear from residents

To the editor,

Are Saco residents aware that the biggest residential development proposal to ever come to our community is currently under review by the Saco Planning Board?

Featuring a staggering 332 new housing units, Lincoln Village at 321 Lincoln St. will add no affordable housing to Saco’s already inhospitable real estate landscape for young families, first-time home buyers, or elderly citizens who are feeling the financial pinch.

This is not Saco friendly.

It would consist of 288 condo units in 36 stand-alone buildings of eight units each; 32 duplex units in 16 stand-alone buildings of two units each; and 12 single-family homes. (a total of 332 total housing units.)

Lincoln Village is a mini-city, one that will bulldoze and divide over half of the 56 acres of this unique, older-growth forest parcel, adding a whopping 718 private parking spaces.

Saco calls itself Friendly by Nature, but we are poised to decimate an ecologically significant parcel with a super-sized project that is looking to make a buck, not enhance our community with housing for those who need it most.

Saco’s deepening traffic issues will be further exacerbated by this project, adding congestion and safety-issues, including greater risk to those who walk or bicycle.

Lincoln Village sidesteps key goals in our newly-revised Comprehensive Plan, and it’s time for the Saco Planning Board to hear from residents who care about growing Saco in a sustainable and equitable manner.

Please attend the Saco Planning Board meeting on May 9 to voice your concerns about Lincoln Village.

Inga Browne

Saco