Citizens in Maine are actively resisting big box sprawl in Ellsworth, Belfast, Rockland, and Topsham (see newsflash entries on 7/17, 6/30, 6/25, and 6/7.) In Topsham recently, when the Planning Board split on the issue of enacting a retail building moratorium, local residents, organized as Topsham Citizens forSensible Growth, decided to think outside of the box. They began circulating an initiative petition that would place a cap on retail buildings larger than 90,000 s.f. in gross floor area, and any retail complex of buildings larger than 150,000 s.f. Sprawl-busters in Topsham say they need to collect 299 signatures — something they feel will be no problem to accomplish. In fact, they plan to submit as many as 500 in the near future.
For more information about the Topsham Citizens for Sensible Growth, or to help out with their campaign, contact [email protected]
