Dear Scarborough residents, I hear you. I see you. It is hard to miss the signs around town telling Town Council to vote no on the Dunstan TIF. I read your emails telling us to please slow growth. I read your comments that the Town Council doesn’t care. I felt the same way before I joined the Town Council and after three years on the council my opinion hasn’t changed.

A consistent message I have heard since joining the council is that growth helps maintain lower property taxes. Growth can bring in more revenue, but it also creates more costs. Growth brings more students to our schools and the need for infrastructure improvements.

The cost to educate one student in Scarborough is approximately $20,000 a year. A typical home in Scarborough that is valued at $1 million would only bring in $10,000 in taxes. The town loses $10,000 on that one home. And this does not even consider the other costs associated with that new property and new residents.

Scarborough is also home to a major medical facility with multiple campuses that require additional services, but because they are nonprofit, they do not pay any taxes, putting even more of a burden on our residents.

One of the biggest factors keeping our tax rate low in Scarborough is the meteoric rise in property values. When a property doubles in value, even at the same tax rate, it pays double the amount of taxes.

What has this low tax rate and increased growth gotten us?

We have plans in place for cars, but not people. The town of Scarborough is implementing the biggest traffic movement plan in the state, but we still can’t seem to keep up with traffic. It’s great we have a plan in place for all the traffic, but what plans were created to deal with the people? Where was the plan for all the new students? Seniors? Dogs?

In the past 10 years our population has grown from approximately 19,000 to 24,000, making Scarborough one of the largest municipalities in the state. But what does Scarborough have to show for all this growth? While other municipalities our size have so much more to offer their residents, we seem to be focused on growth and not addressing the needs of our current residents.

Currently, before the Town Council, is the proposal to create a TIF district in Dunstan. Do residents really want more development and growth in this area? Can we handle more growth in this area?

The Dunstan Corner intersection was reconfigured back in 2013, but the changes made have provided little relief to the traffic. In 2018 the Southgate Apartments were approved and built in Dunstan with no plan for vehicle access to Route 1 north. If you spend 10 minutes in this area you will see residents have created their own access by cutting through the parking lot of the antique store next door or Mend Health.

Now we have a proposal across the street from Southgate with the same access problem. With no safe way for residents, visitors, or emergency personnel to access Route 1 south, what creative, unsafe, or illegal way will people end up creating themselves?

Going through this proposed Dunstan TIF district is Phillips Brook. In 2012, Phillips Brook was classified as an urban impaired stream. If our Comprehensive Plan calls for targeted development that protects our natural resources, why are we promoting growth next to a stream that has been impaired for at least 13 years? And if Scarborough Marsh is central to the town’s identity, as stated in our Comprehensive Plan, why aren’t we doing more to protect it and the resources that connect to it?

I joined the Town Council because I want to protect and preserve our natural resources, but every step has been a compromise. Experts recommend a 100-foot set back from wetlands. We ended up with an ordinance requiring a 25-foot set back from wetlands.

Are we going to continue to compromise away the characteristics of Scarborough that make it unique?

There are options available to the Town Council when it comes to regulating growth and protecting our natural resources. I am looking forward to discussing these issues and our options with my fellow councilors.

Karin Shupe is a member of Scarborough Town Council. She can be reached at kshupe@scarboroughmaine.org. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Scarborough Town Council.