Standish history on display

People tend to be naturally skeptical when it comes to government “taking back” anything and the range roads discussion in Standish has many interested. Simplified – and that’s the key word here – the town is claiming it owns, and always has, roadways that criss-cross the town and were laid out by Standish’s town fathers centuries ago.

Whether this “taking back” is legal is up to a judge, but it is understandable why some residents are having a hard time swallowing this pill, simply because owners, rightly or wrongly, were not made aware when they bought their properties that the town owned nearby property and at any time could develop it.

A range roads committee has been meeting for a few years on this and has walked some of the range roads and while much discussion remains, it makes sense that the town opens up these discussions to the public as they did Tuesday night.

Despite all the progress, there are a few vital questions:

1. Is the town taking back these range roads a form of eminent domain? Americans bristle when government takes anything. Cities across America are coldly taking over neighborhoods, redeveloping them all in hopes of generating more taxes. That’s partly why people filled the Standish Town Hall to question this new policy. Eminent domain strikes fear, as it should, into property owners’ hearts. The town needs to explain how this is not eminent domain.

2. The town also needs to explore who is the rightful heir, so to speak, of these range roads. The proprietors of Pearsontown (what Standish was once called) in the 1700s mapped and laid markers for roadways linking parcels throughout the town. It was a great idea and some of those range roads are now major or minor roads that citizens drive. The question is, who owns these roads now? Is it the Town Council acting on behalf of the town, or is it each tax-paying citizen in Standish? Sometimes the government is not the people. The proprietors owned the roads back in the 1700s. Who are the equivalent of the proprietors now?

3. If the range roads are approved, what if an individual property owner doesn’t want his abutting range road cleared and developed? One would assume all Pearsontown residents were in favor of the range roads, but what if that’s not the case now? To what extent, if any, are individual abutters’ desires going to be met? Some folks may welcome a road coming close to their property; others may not. The town needs to decide how many toes it’s going to step on to open up these roadways and if it’s worth the possible lawsuits.

This discussion is truly fascinating. Range roads are a tangible link to our past, and they should be revered. There are many questions still to be answered, but these range roads are a reminder of our great history. They are a throwback to planned cities like Washington D.C. and Midwestern towns. The proprietors of Standish are alive today because of these roadways. How Standish – the leaders and the townspeople – deals with these roads will be fascinating.

Standish history is truly coming alive.

A show of Unity

When I grow up I want to live at Unity Gardens.

Yes, that’s true. Have you seen this place, located on beautifully repaved Route 115 in North Windham? There are many rooms in this mansion and I’m sure there’ll be room for me.

I’ve got another 30 years before I can have shot to live there, and unfortunately, those trying to get in right now are having a very hard time. While folks are beginning to move in, more than 100 people, in fact, are standing in the proverbial line waiting outside.

It just goes to show there’s money to be made in senior housing. With all of greater Portland exploding in popularity, it’s no wonder there’s a shortage of senior housing. It’s time someone came to the plate, like Avesta Housing has, and made more assisted or independent living homes for our aging population.

The need for senior housing isn’t new. Decades, in fact, have gone by without a suitable housing situation for our elders. I remember living in California during a college summer break and the father of one of my friends was all abuzz with the idea of building a senior retirement community replete with nurses, handicapped entrances and one-floor living. He enumerated the positives such a place would offer, but, when pushed, caved and admitted he was partly considering the idea for the financial windfall it would surely generate.

I’m not sure if he ever pursued it, but his dreams got me thinking that someday I’d like to build a place for seniors and make a nice home for them in their golden years. I doubt I’ll ever do that (the news business doesn’t exactly lend itself to side jobs), but heck, somebody should, and they should do it now. There’s both money to be made and people to make happy. How can you lose?

So, who’s going to step up to plate? You?

John Balentine, editor