Editor:
    I believe that those within a defined zone can do whatever they wish with their property within long established guidelines.
    Kennebunkport has guidelines and an excellent town planning and zoning board. We have defined zones that have given order to the town and added definition to the beauty of the town. It is the reason that so many newcomers have relocated to Kennebunkport. These new community members have come from cities and towns where restrictions were stringent and they found a match in the Town of Kennebunkport. The lifelong residents are indebted to the TPZ because the board has protected their properties and has significantly increased their values.
    Now, contract zoning or spot zoning seems to me to be a back door approach to waive the TPZ restrictions by offering a small gift for breaking these agreed upon restrictions.
    It seems to support the notion that “I will ignore zoning restrictions, etc. by giving the town something beneficial like a bathroom, or maybe I can convert my garage into a condo or some form of multiplex by giving the town some extra parking spaces.”
    This is incremental glacial movement. It threatens significant change to the ordered landscape.
    I support Marie in her looking for a way to make the Tides Inn a more profitable business. But, I do not support the holding out of the carrots of a public restroom and access to the beach at the cost of changing a historical, grandfathered inn to a modern bulky condominium complex.
    I encourage Marie to stay within the guidelines of the town planning and zoning board and to continue to work with the architect and the town. I believe this will be good for all of us.

Rose Daily
Kennebunkport