Update!! The Town Director of Planning and Development-planner quit since this article was originally posted! How many does that make?

First the dump closes early and less days and now its
going to be tough to get a marriage license.

The heading must be enough to raise eyebrows. The Town of Kittery can’t keep employees. For years as a Town Councilor, I have questioned the hiring practices and the failure of a policy with regards to the retention of good employees and yes, even keeping the bad ones. I was not alone because other Councilors have raised the same issue and even the ones I did not always agree with on my left. Before you complain, I sat on the far right. Add to the exodus from Kittery are several board members and a few who have just resigned. Then we learn that Kittery hires another financial director from Amesbury Mass (or close to it) incidently where the Kittery Town Manager currently resides. Yes Massachussetts. Apparently there are no qualified Kittery residents for the Kittery Financial Director and again we pick from the pool that has nothing to do with Kittery. What are we afraid of?

The story seems to have a common denominator if you connect the dots. Even recently, The Town’s cronies even went after a planning board member on the planning board for signing the petition against the 900 unit development that was being pushed through. Citizen before board member. The people saw through that fiasco for there was so much more behind that story then just filling wet lands.

As it goes for employees, the story goes that the Town comes to the Council and makes a claim this person is the best and Kittery needs to pay that person well and we need him or her. Shortly after they are hired, they leave. What they left! What happened? What is going on? Did they have an epiphany? or did they simply figure out.

Someone reaches into a hat and pulls out a new job description and sells it. The council buys it every time.

from the Herald, The proposed $714,399 year-over-year municipal budget increase, Amaral told the Town Council, also accounts for inflation seen in markets nationwide. 

“That’s a huge driver for this budget,” she said. Lets just add another high paying position when the economy is in peril.

LINK: NEW COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR …are you kidding me?

I am sure you have heard the complaints of harassment, hostile work environments, theft, safety issues, misappropriations, nepotism, the list is endless believe me I know. If not, just ask those who have endured it and have no reason to keep quiet for Job Security. Look what they did to me when I exposed the employees complaints.

Let’s recap the last 8 months. slow and methodically, they start leaving, one by one, The DPW/Transfer Station, loses seven. The KCC lost three. Just last month alone, the KCC lost two. The Town Hall loses the Town Planner, the Finance director, the assistant Code Enforcement officer, according to sources, the Assistant Code Enforcement officer submitted his resignation and was allegedly offered another Kittery higher position with more money if he would stay and he said no and left. Then there was the Finance Director, she was alike a YOYO, hired, quit, came back, then left again. Did it not get better the second time around? I am sure this story will be spun to fit the narrative.

Let me recap the last 5 years oh, I am sorry I lost count after 23+ employees one being a department head’s relative.

As many employees are cautious to speak, the reasons seem to be the same. ‘oh, everything is great’. How many exit interviews are conducted, who does them, Kendra Amaral’s HR director? I wonder how that goes! We used to have an outside company do our HR management. Perhaps, Kittery can’t control a legitimate organization and be subject to the criticism of malfeasance..

The Council is not privy to these phantom exit interviews during the Town Managers reviews. Well it can’t because its a double edge sword between the Charter and personnel issues and we don’t want to violate the charter.

These exit interviews seldom happen unless requested by the employee and I am sure the stories from the employees would no doubt be the same. The silent treatment, harassment, poor management, screw up move up, you’d better keep it quiet we don’t need any more issues. I was recently asked, what happened to the old Town Manager, the Chief of Police Paul Callahan or James Soucy, Jim left abruptly, did anyone interview him? Where is the citizen action committee that looked at certain Councilors over the loss of a Town Manager and Police Chief?

The Transfer Station or the Dump has been hit hard. It has reduced hours so the TAXPAYER needs to pretty much schedule when they can dump trash. When does it start accumulating on the side roads so that the DPW can clean it up. Wait, they are all leaving the DPW! Don’t drink the well water there that’s for sure.

What is going on there? Has the real reason the dump is understaffed made news yet?. Freedom of speech is prohibited at the Kittery transfer station and the former employees have told me that they are strictly prohibited from talking to certain residents.

Until the taxpayer wakes up and holds the common denominator accountable it will never change. People are becoming more and more aware of the shenanigans and soon there will be more coming. As former employee get brave, began to use their voices, or when Kittery gets a union rep with back bone who is not part of the good old managers club, or has a HR firm who really protects employee rights and does not work directly for the Town Manager, the citizens will come to realize that something is wrong in Denmark.

As the headline suggests, the Two Week cycle is simple, give it two weeks and it will blow over. How a Town works the crisis, develops their spin, are cryptic in the truth, maintain their composure and within two weeks it will die down. That is of course if someone does not keep it in the public’s eye. Many of the following assertions have links to the news articles.

Let’s start with the alleged cost of the of the new Library, what the voters voted for and the actual cost and the plan to sell the Taylor building for FAIR MARKET value and off set the cost overruns of the Library project, Then as it chatter subsided, came the change of plans. How much did the library cost? Many had made complaints it was going to cost more then the five million. The sale of the Taylor Building was supposed to support the library, after all it was their building. Well over 6.1 million now.

Some complained that the school budget was impacted due to the construction cost increase. I asked the Town Manager the question and was told this was not true however a few weeks went by and there ended the KSD PRE-K. Well I am sure there is an answer for that too. Coincidental perhaps?

How about Fernald Rd. I warned all residents there that car wash was coming and they will have to hook up to the sewer with Macerator pumps due to the new sewer line on Rte 236. Wonder what that cost is? Well it came, How about the filling of the wet lands across from Taylor lobster. Now the owners want to fill in more wet lands and put another pot shop in there. I thought there was a building moritorium and a wet land study. Let’s flood more of the properties on Martin rd. Kittery already damaged those properties with excess water due to this ECO nightmare.

When does it stop?

How about the KCC that was on track of the its budget being in the black and self supporting. What happened? How is it being run, was there an investigation? Who is running the show, the director or the Town manager. I was often asked if it is being micro-managed. Remember the closing of the Kittery Community Center Eyes of the World at the Kittery Community Center. What was the real reason that it did not fit the plan? That move was a financial mistake in my opinion and that many local and surrounding communities had families that were directly impacted and that buck stopped at the top. Families were directly and financially impacted as was the budget for the KCC. Kids were affected as well due to the removal of normalcy.

The two week cycle is what it is called. Give it two weeks and it will go away. Like the Kittery Community Center Van Crash and the complaints and concerns of the Town doing improper back ground checks, the DPW fiasco, the Sewer fiasco (Sticker Shock), the plan by the Former Chair of the Council to close Traip Academy and ship our kids to Marshwood, the suspected damaging of Martin Road’s Herb Parson Pond from blasting, cracked cellars, the roller-coaster ride called Stevenson rd., the 900 unit development fiasco, the selling of Town Property below market value, the budget, the taxes, the waste of taxpayers money for electric charging stations behind and to the left of the Town Hall and the Library charging station which had to be moved (at a significant cost) due to the lack of a vision. The KCC issue was a miscommunication issue. WHAT!

Does anyone know what those cost the taxpayers and the cost of using the installed electric charging stations? I love electric vehicles but an estimated installation cost of upwards of $20,000 dollars a station port not including CMP installations cost or rebates.

If true it is outrageous. How are the towns roads coming with PAVING? How about selling houses that were foreclosed on and the Town owns them, the old Walker street Fire Station plan. How about when the towns people voted no on rebuilding the Town hall or the New Fire Stations. What did the Wentworth Dennett school sell for? What about trying to sell the old Kittery Fire Station. What is happening with the old Community Center? How about the historic SAFFORD SCHOOL building in Kittery Point.

If your not watching Town Property will be sold under your noses for less then market value. Pay attention folks! Sales like the Taylor building !!!

We lost a Town Manager and Police Chief (the first one) and a citizen group was formed. Dow, Brake and Guy were blamed. George Dow was the Chairperson at the time. We lose another Chief and who cared!

Then there is the FOREVER CHEMICAL found in well water around the dump. How is the news flowing on that topic. Have you checked your well water yet? The best one is where Kittery Town Council changed the speed limit in violation of the State Law and made it 25 MPH instead of 35 mph. How many tickets/drunk driving arrest were made based on the 25 MPH zone and not 35. Who is responsible for that blunder.

Let’s change the subject. The side walk plan. Has anyone seen it yet. Here it is…. SIDEWALK PLAN. The Town Council and Manager Kendra Amaral were met head on by concerned residents regarding Stevenson Road. What happened to the traffic study? Even the State of Maine was involved. What about the bike and sidewalk study?

The SHAPLIEGH SCHOOL ZONE on Stevenson road which has frequent eighteen wheeler’s and other equipment like speeding cars and dump trucks, overloaded log trucks and cement mixers pass through to avoid the traffic. Right through the school zone of Shapleigh Middle School. I am pretty sure that Kittery’s children still walk the roads without a side walk which was requested by the citizens and once approved.

The Town says it wants to prioritize. What should have come first, Shapleigh School which had a plan and funding that has been in the works for years and the sidewalks to NO WHERE or Pepperrell Road. Both are equally important, however the Children of Shapleigh School should have been the Towns priority. Search the internet for Kittery’s sidewalks to no where. https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/local/portsmouth-herald/2016/12/29/kittery-town-government-also-out/22975238007/

Letters to the editor

Well, it must be okay now, because the Town applied for a grant. Why can’t we use public safety funds or the CIP? Let us hope we get the grant which we still are required to pay a significant portion of anyway. Grants cost taxpayers in the long run.

Perhaps it is time for another PETITION to protect our CHILDREN and Seniors who walk Manson Rd, Stevenson and Martin Road. Did you know we have two crosswalks near Shapleigh School and it is set back a way from the intersection and dumps directly into private property. Who was asleep at the wheel during that design. I wonder if it is correctly installed. Is it marked, does it have lights and/or warning signs? Crosswalks to nowhere. The buck stops with Kendra Amaral.

Remember the Stevenson Road sidewalk was previously designed, put on the back burner, the Town wasted tons of your money in previous design and clarifying right of way issues, only to have to have it expire and then have it re-engineered at additional costs.

What is it going to take for the Town Manager Kendra Amaral and the Kittery Town Council to complete the Stevenson Road Side walk project ASAP? A tragedy? Because it is a matter of when…….not if.

Who will we hold responsible? If we don’t act, whatever we do, it will be to little to late. I wonder if that story would last TWO WEEKS?

If something tragic happens on Stevenson rd, here is who is running the Town. Councilors Judy Spiller, Mary Gibbon’s Steven’s, Jeff Pelletier, Cam Ham, Colin McGuire, George Dow, Cyrus Clark and Town Manger Kendra Amaral. When something happens perhaps they will be held responsible for not doing something to prevent it. But alas, you will probably forget about this post in two weeks.

Does Kittery have it’s own love canal? Well you must know by now that there was the a discovery of PFAS in the residents well water around the Dump. Why have we not continued to hear what Kittery has found and what the mitigation is for this forever chemical? Have people forgotten or do they just don’t care? At the end of this article view the pictures taken in the wood line perimeter of the dump.

According to the old timers who worked at the dump, allegedly there is an excavator under the dirt that fell into the landfill and could not be removed from the years and years of industrial and household waste. I have been told by former employees that many of them know what is there and perhaps how many complaints were made to the DEP. According to former employees, they are were not allowed to talk about it. The fence is being pushed over and even lifted by the landfill mound and shifting which allows the buried trash to escape under the fence into the forest. What is really buried there? The shipyard for a time dumped their trash there. Here is a PNSY production tag lying in the open as the earth pushes out its secrets from under the fence.

You have heard about the Coakley Landfill, Pease, Fairfield, Camp Lejune, Berwick, KITTERY! The perimeter of the dump and all those who have well water better get them checked for PFAS. Kittery needs to deliver a water line to these people fast. Water travels far under ground and this is a proven fact. Could your wells could be adversely affected by the transfer station. Watch the video at the end as the water seeps from the dump and heads to the swamp and spruce creek. Unacceptable.

Is our land fill covered and properly managed, are there berms and retention walls, pipe vents for the methane that destroy our ozone or retention ponds to hold the contaminated run off?……………………. NO!

What goes on out back of the dump is unknown to most, lots of things go on from dumping of certain items, broken glass, construction material, storage of propane tanks (unknown If they are still filled with propane and perhaps save for use for future private projects). How do they empty them before welding them for private projects? The DPW has even stored Kittery’s DPW management’s boats, campers and motor homes up there as well. In fairness, that practice was recently stopped when the bear was poked.

(PFAS have been found in Maine in a number of places including: agricultural sites, drinking water supplies, surface waters, landfills, wastewater, sludge and seepage spreading sites, and remediation and cleanup sites.) https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/local/2022/03/19/kittery-maine-home-water-wells-near-dump-have-pfas-arsenic/7038330001/

As the Town tries to mitigate this, some suggest do not sign anything from the Town without consulting your own lawyer. I recently have been informed by a home owner that the Town of Kittery wants a him to sign a form. The home owner believes the form suggests Kittery is not liable and it tries to indemnify the Town. If this is true, what does Kittery know that they are not telling us. DON’T SIGN ANYTHING WITHOUT A LAWYER.

PFAS cause cancer and other issues. Where is Erin Brockovich when you need her?

BERWICK

PEASE

FAIRFIELD ME

Regarding the PFAS at the Kittery Dump. Has anyone walked the transfer station fence line and seen the stuff being pushed out from the land fill into the forests? The Kittery Land Fill is finally giving up its secrets due and the evidence is all over the forest along the fence line and in the swamps. The ground is pushing it out like a pimple. Metal shavings, industrial and household waste and other items along with tags with references to the Navy Yard,

Trash is exposed in the woods from the 70’s and 80’s like Dan’s Star Market bread wrappers (a time stamp to the era so to speak), garage bags of waste and rusted empty oil drums, putrid water for the animal to drinks. Foam and slime covering water draining to spruce creek. Is Spruce Creek open for Clamming yet? HMMMM!

These breaches of the land fills directly impact the eco system. Has any Councilors, inhaled for a moment, no pun intended, and taken a break from rubber stamping Town issues and walked the fence line to see what Kittery covered up? OUTRAGEOUS! See the pictures below.

I have a question, Did a former long time employee of the Kittery Transfer pass on (die) because he had a medical condition that he personally attributed to the DUMP? How many town employees past and present drink the well water there, wash their hands, were exposed to the potential hazards that lie beneath. How many years before we learn the health hazards to our citizens.

Complaints have been made so lets see how Kittery manages this crisis. Feel free to FILE A COMPLAINT with the EPA. https://echo.epa.gov/report-environmental-violations

Feel free to FILE A COMPLAINT with the EPA. https://echo.epa.gov/report-environmental-violations

Where is Councilor Cameron Hamm? A recent elected Town Councilor who has missed a handful of consecutive meetings and is allegedly TDY for the military. Councilors failing to attend meetings is not new.

The issue here is that the Town Charter says you cannot miss a meeting without the approval of the Council. The COUNCIL must approve this and not the chair. The public should be told the reason at every meeting and vote needs to take place. It needs to be in the record.

The Chair is only a ceremonious position and represents one vote and the Charter specifically states, that the Council needs to approve the absence. Here is the excerpt from Kittery’s charter.

§ 2.12. Vacancies; forfeiture of office; filling of vacancies.

(2) Forfeiture of office. A councilor forfeits office if the councilor:

(d) Fails to attend 3 consecutive regular meetings of the council without being excused by the council.

It says “by the council”…  This was argued by our beloved recently passed Councilor Frank Dennett some years ago and he was adamant it meant by a majority vote of those present at a meeting.  It was also believed that It should also must be an agenda item. The people elect a Councilor to represent them in governmental issues and not be absent unless excused by the Council. Spiller has appeared to not follow the rules now for several meetings.

If this is the correct interpretation of the rule, then Chair Judith Spiller may be failing to follow the Town Charter. The Town Manager needs to ensure the Charter is being followed. Also the entire Council should know the rules and should require them to be followed. Spiller has asserted that Hamm’s absence was for the military. There are no exceptions outlined in the Charter for the military or being automatically excused. I guess it comes down to interpretation of the Charter. It does say that they must be excused by the Council. Nothing says the chair can make that call.

If there was a violation of the Charter, what comes next? If anything perhaps they should get a ruling.

Celebrate Wood Island and donate to the FOOD PANTRIES. Food Panty and GATHER.

On August 6th, 2022 at 9 P.M. the first ever FIREWORKS over the Wood Island Life Savings station will commence. Where can you see this spectacle? Baring any further fireworks from the Town, you can see it at Great Island Commons in New Castle, will be open to the public for this event, Fort McClary, albeit, according to the Town there is a parking issue, the Frisbee Pier and of course, you can see it from Fort Foster although the gate will be closed as of this story. (Due to employee shortages). Plenty of parking outside the gates but be mindful of private properties and of Course the from boats on the water. Do not bring your own fireworks. Hopefully this will become a tradition. Watch the video and we hope to see you there and GO WOOD ISLAND!

HELPING OTHERS THEN AND NOW, Wood Island Life Savings station.

Celebrating Kittery’s 375th. Bring Food Pantry and GATHER donations to the sites or drop them off at Mitchell School and other selected areas. To find out more about Kittery 375th, visit, www.kittery375th.com

Please use your cell phone lights pointing at the Wood Island Station to show your thanks.

On March 28, 2022, the Wood Island Life Saving Station Association notified the Coast Guard that it will be conducting a fireworks display from 9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on August 6, 2022. The fireworks are to be launched from anchored floats on the Piscataqua River located approximately 1000 yards northwest of Fort Foster, Kittery, ME in position 43°04′23.9″ N, 070°41′57.4″ W (NAD83). Hazards from firework displays include accidental discharge of fireworks, dangerous projectiles, and falling hot embers or other debris. The Captain of the Port Northern New England (COTP) has determined that potential hazards associated with the fireworks to be used in this display would be a safety concern for anyone within a 500-foot radius of the fireworks launch floats.

The purpose of this rulemaking is to ensure the safety of vessels on the navigable waters within a 500-foot radius of the firework launch floats before, during, and after the scheduled event. The Coast Guard is proposing this rulemaking under authority in 46 U.S.C. 70034 (previously 33 U.S.C. 1231).

Highlights and observations from the Kittery Special meeting July, 13th, 2022 to discuss the petition to repeal the Mixed Use Zone and return it to the Business Park.

One of the reasons we need to question everything from our elected officials is that the truth could become inconvenient to their narrative. I believe that in a recent case, it was evident when the Town or a Town Councilor appeared to be less than forthright and wordsmithed the opinion of the Town lawyer, obviously my opinion. In this case, I believe that the Town’s lawyer’s legal opinion letter must have been inconvenient to the Towns narrative.

Take for instance during the public hearing on Wednesday July 13, 2022 at 6 p.m. held at the KCC. Kittery Town Councilor Judith Spiller appeared to make four overt public statements repeating that the Business park ordinance the petitioners wanted to use had two types of errors, some correctable and others not, some errors that can’t be corrected which were problematic and non correctable serious errors. I beleive that the letter should have been read for the public. Watch it for yourself.

Spiller made this statement at least four different times as well as suggesting that the sewer assessment would be affected. Spiller forgot about the 300 units 1.8 million dollar sewer impact fee that is not affected by this ordinance and Kittery is on track to receive.

Keep in mind that the Town hired and spent your tax money on this legal opinion, which concluded: “In conclusion, except as it relates to any amendment to the Zoning Map, I recommend that the Council make the minor corrections to the Petitioned Ordinance outlined above to assure accuracy in its text and references and clarity and precision in its phraseology. I did not find any repetitive, illegal, or unconstitutional provisions. Philip R. Saucier” (I have attached this Town Attorney legal review letter to this article.)

You should note that original Business Park ordinance was in place since 28 May 2008, and reviewed by previous Town Attorneys, voted on by the Council after workshops and public hearings with the Planning Board.

Spiller, an experienced member of the Town Council, apparently did not note nor question these errors during those years or suggest that the ordinance was full of legal errors. In fact, since 2008 to 2018, I can’t recall she never once questions the so-called errors of the ordinance. Spiller was even a member of the Planning Board for a few years as well.

This previous Business Park ordinance was in fact in effect for ten years through the tenure of at least three Town Managers who apparently also failed to discover any legal issues, errors or omissions. However, Spiller still pushed her statement. To do what exactly?

Thank goodness that we have lawyers, who are intelligent enough to review these legal documents, ordinances, other correspondence and even acts and make unbiased legal opinions. Spiller had in her possession the most current legal document from Bernstein Shur, dated July 6 th , 2022, which clearly stated that the Petition Ordinance had no legal issues except for some minor changes that could be done by amendments. Town Attorney, Philip R. Saucier writes “I recommend that the Council make the minor corrections to the Petitioned Ordinance outlined above to assure accuracy in its text and references and clarity and precision in its phraseology.”  See Lawyers letter below.

Town Attorney, Saucier goes on to add, “I did not find any repetitive, illegal, or unconstitutional provisions. Philip R. Saucier”

Residents need to be alert, carefully examine, and watch the Town Council, the Town Manager, the Planning Board; and, especially Chairperson Spiller as this moratorium takes hold or as reviews of this ordinance and others take place; as well as any other legal opinions that are requested and delivered. Be sure to read them yourselves and hold them all accountable, ensure they tell the truth and not bend the truth.

Wordsmithing is irresponsible, for even the change of a comma or verbiage by this Council, Town Manager or Planning Board could bring an unwarranted change.

Remember, when the truth is inconvenient to a narrative, you need to be extra vigilant.

THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE EVENING:

The standing ovation from the crowd was directed at local resident Ethan Bensley who gave the most compelling speech of the night. See Below. Upon ending the speech, many of the attendees gave a standing ovation and the room went wild with applause.

Watch the next video with regard to other issues during the night: Councilor Clark, who during the night reminded residents of what could be, in his opinion. Clark in essence told the crowd, be careful what you wish for because an AMAZON Warehouse could come and there is no going back. Did Clark forget about the will of the people or another petition?

Later Clark, who appeared agitated even told a local resident named Mr. Goodson who was voicing his opinion, to “go! hit the road, hit the road” as Clark gestured the hand motion with a sliding thumb. Yes! he may have interfered with the free speech of a citizen. Albeit, Mr. Goodson may have been out of order, but he was respectfully vocal and excited at the time. Council Spiller commented as well and also told Goodson to leave.

Kittery deserves Town Councilors who will show up to these meetings; do their homework before they come to the meeting; tell the truth; share whatever information (however sparse) they may have and do more than rubber stamp agenda items; and, if they make a mistake, fix it before it is irreversible. Incidentally, Vice Chair George Dow and Cameron Hamm did not show for whatever reason. The Chair did not publically excuse them. Planning board members were also missing.

Some of the Planning Board members were not present and even one even sat in the audience and recused himself. That’s a whole other story about being a citizen as well as a member of a board. Five Town Councilors were present but Chairperson Spiller called out that six voted in favor. Another mistake? This needs to be corrected in the official record.

Then the most shocking part of the night, the moment a person speaking on behalf of the project began to speak about the things that could go into the business park. Spiller asked him to move it along and told him “your gonna lose the audience” and he then uttered the the words in front of the audience, “that’s okay I am not worried about that.”  The crowd went wild, then Spiller tried to regain control of the crowd by rapidly and repeatedly landing severe blows of the gavel to the table as she hollered “please”. Watch this next video.

Moans from the audience could be heard as Spiller for what-ever reason, found it necessary to read letters from other neighboring community leaders supporting the project. Did she consider that these people did not want this monstrosity in their town? How are their letters germane to the wishes of the people from Kittery? Why were they even read, they are not even residents of Kittery? Did these neighboring community leaders have something to gain if the project went forward?

There is solace in the fact the citizens won, but we should not have had to fight this plan or ordinance. In retrospect, it was a mistake when it was changed and the council should have listened to the people and the impact should have been foreseen, but at least it is fixed now.

In fairness, project developer Sheila Grant seemed to suggest that today , July 13, 2022, the day of the public hearing (today, that is what she said) they launched a website that had information and FAQ’s for people to read the benefits of the proposed project. “We have a lot of meaningful information and we think that people aren’t properly educated, so we’d like to do that,” she said at the meeting. The website is ww.dennettlanding.com.  

What is next you might ask? Well, you can make sure the Town does it right this time, and other people suggested rezoning the business park as residential only, require that department heads live in Kittery, perhaps lower Kittery’s taxes? Anything is possible.

Click Here for the FULL MEETING VIDEO UN-EDITED:

Below is the Letter from the Town Lawyer covering the petition:

The business park ordinance was restored. The 900 unit has been stopped. The council also voted in a 180 day moratorium on business construction. More on this later as I get the correct verbiage. You need to watch the meeting when it is aired and Councilor Clark telling a citizen to “ beat it”

Highlights include a developer who states he did not care about our concerns [sic]. Councilor Clark appears to feed our fears and being a fear monger as he tells the crowd you better be careful and seems to suggest an Amazon Warehouse is coming.

ourkittery will report more on the story soon.

The Petition to Stop the 900 PUBLIC HEARING is at July 13th, @ 6 PM. at the Kittery Community Center. We need support to show up. According to Town Manager Kendra Amaral, ” The zoning change “would stop the project,”.Please email your friends and neighbors to garner more support.

The Council can either repeal the current ordinance and return to the previous one or schedule a Special Election. This election needs to be done within 60 Days of the filing.
UPDATE: Public Hearing Notice Town Council & Planning Board Special Meeting (7/13/22)Moved to the KCCUPDATE: Public Hearing Notice – Town Council & Planning Board SpecialMeeting (7/13/22) – Moved to the KCC July 6, 2022 

In order to accommodate a larger audience,the July 13, 2022 Town Council & PlanningBoard Special Meeting – Public Hearing hasbeen moved to the 
Kittery Community Center Star Theatre, 
located at 120 Rogers Road, 
Kittery, ME 03904. 

Those wishing to participate in the meeting are welcome to doso in-person at the Star Theatre, or via Zoom.To register for the meeting via Zoom, click thislink: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register!

https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/local/2022/07/05/kittery-me-petition-against-dennett-landing-housing/7761884001/

Stop the 900 Unit development public hearing July 13th, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. at the Kittery Town Hall.

The real take away from this article is the following statement:

The zoning change “would stop the project,” Town Manager Kendra Amaral said.

The “Stop the 900” ( by reverting to the old ordinance that prohibits the building of 900 units) PETITION has only been in circulation since the end of April 2022. Numerous conversations with the Portsmouth Herald reporter IAN LENAHAN has resulted in just spinning wheels. It tends to make me wonder why? Many people have suggested the story would not make it out until after the public hearing. Kudos to the Herald for at least this meager attempt at informing the public. The story of this petition and the voices of the people should have made its way to the Kittery public long before today and the story should have been when this petition started and not after it was turned in. There was no (ZERO) help from the Portsmouth Herald in getting the news to the people. In fact, Ian has received written emails asking why he has not written about this. Note: I was BCC’d.

Spectrumocalnews did a fantastic story about the issue and its a free site, as well as my site OURKITTERY.Com.

As the newspapers continue to die across the United States, more and more people will turn to social media to get the news filtered, unfiltered, unbiased, biased and requiring fact checking but it will get out. The RAG as it is affectionately called will be an old memory of the Seacoast along with the Portsmouth Free Press the end of an era will be realized not soon enough.

Hope to see you all at the Public hearing at the Kittery Town Hall. Many hope the PUBLIC HEARING moves to the KCC to allow many to talk and not be restricted by Town occupancy limits. Feel free to read into that as you may.

From ourkittery.com:

If you’ve been hoping for an opportunity to publicly comment on the development, this is the time. We hope that you will consider attending either in-person or virtually to demonstrate our disapproval of the 900-unit development. 

The public may submit public comments for the discussion agenda item via email, US Mail, or by dropping written comments off at Town Hall. Emailed comments should be sent to towncomments@kitteryme.org.

The public may participate in person or via Zoom webinar. To register for the Zoom webinar, click here. Comments received by noon on the day of the meeting will be posted online with the agenda, and may be read into the record by the Council Chair. For more information, please visit the Town’s news item on this public hearing: https://www.kitteryme.gov/home/news/public-hearing-notice-town-council-planning-board-special-meeting-071322

July13th,2022 at 6 pm

To those who are interested, The Kittery Town Council is having a Public hearing on the petition asking to repeal Title 16 Mixed-Use Neighborhood Zone (MU-N) and replace it with a new zoning district entitled “Business Park (BP).”

Firstly, THANK YOU to those who signed and those many who wanted to sign but could not and to those who exercised their rights to participate.

We are thrilled to let you know that we received well over the number of needed signatures and that Kittery Town Council and Planning Board will hold a joint public hearing on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 at 6:00pm at the Kittery Town Hall Council Chambers to consider the zoning change. 

If you’ve been hoping for an opportunity to publicly comment on the development, this is the time. We hope that you will consider attending either in-person or virtually to demonstrate our disapproval of the 900-unit development. 

The public may submit public comments for the discussion agenda item via email, US Mail, or by dropping written comments off at Town Hall. Emailed comments should be sent to towncomments@kitteryme.org.

The public may participate in person or via Zoom webinar. To register for the Zoom webinar, click here. Comments received by noon on the day of the meeting will be posted online with the agenda, and may be read into the record by the Council Chair. For more information, please visit the Town’s news item on this public hearing: https://www.kitteryme.gov/home/news/public-hearing-notice-town-council-planning-board-special-meeting-071322

Stay Tuned to ourkittery.com and feel free to sign up for the auto emails to stay informed as the information comes to us. 
Thank you!