Wednesday, August 10, 2005 8:30 am
Report: Moosehead development would have positive economic impact
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The analysis by University of Southern Maine economist Charles Colgan for land owner Plum Creek said the plan "would likely have significant positive effects on a regional economy that has been experiencing economic difficulty."
The analysis banks on all 975 house lots, resorts, sports camps, recreational-vehicle parks and one large sawmill being developed.
Ken Spaulding, of RESTORE: The North Woods, one of the groups that opposes Plum Creek´s plan, questioned the choice to predict benefits based on descriptions of resorts and a sawmill which are, at present, "purely speculative."
In his report, Colgan said the economic impact depends entirely on Plum Creek´s ability to sell its rezoned land to developers and prospective homeowners. Plum Creek has no plans to build; instead, it would sell the parcels to developers.
Plum Creek spokesman Jim Lehner said he´s not yet courting buyers for the resort and campground properties, but he said marketing timber land rezoned for development has never been a problem at the company´s similar projects elsewhere.
Plum Creek has capped the number of housing lots to be created per year at 125, so home building will stretch on for at least a decade.
Colgan estimates a local construction industry boom from residential development alone of $10.5 million annually from 2006 to 2018 and $1 million annually from 2019 to 2023.
When the building is complete, however, employment would likely shift to the potential resorts and sawmill, as well as to ecotourism businesses that could spring up, he said.
Luke Muzzy, senior land asset manager for Plum Creek in Maine, said he expects the vast majority of new homeowners in the area to be seasonal. He´s hoping some stay.
A Greenville native, Muzzy graduated with a high school class of ´49. The first grade today has eight children. "The school could take 100 kids right now. The hospital´s the same thing _ the hospital needs patients," Muzzy said. "We need people."
Greenville´s population shrank by 13.85 percent between the 1990 and 2000 census counts alone. But people have been leaving the area in search of work for much longer, Muzzy said.
"We don´t want to see it turn into Bangor, we just want it back the way it was when I was a kid," he said, stumping for the Plum Creek proposal Tuesday.
Maine´s Land Use Regulation Commission, the agency that will decide whether to approve Plum Creek´s plan, will hold a series of "scoping sessions" in coming weeks to offer the public a chance to comment on the proposal.
As part of the rezoning package before LURC, 98 percent of Plum Creek´s holdings in that area would be placed in a no-development deal for at least 30 years. There would be hiking and snowmobile trails and continued public access.
