I am writing to thank Rep. Meredith Strang Burgess, R-Cumberland, for recognizing that the minority report to LD 1810, the regulatory “takings” bill in the Legislature, rightly deserved to be in the minority and was not a good public policy solution to the question of how to improve Maine’s land use laws. If enacted, the minority report to this bill would have created a costly government bureaucracy and weakened our ability to insure that use of Maine lands doesn’t unfairly impact neighbors and the quality of Maine’s environment.

I have been told that our hard-working representative came under intense pressure from an army of lobbyists to support the problematic minority report to the bill. Instead, Rep. Strang Burgess listened to her constituents who asked her to review the unwanted consequences of similar legislation enacted in other states (passed and repealed in at least one) and urged her to oppose the minority report. She deserves our thanks.

The majority report to LD 1810 is a bipartisan and workable compromise that would establish a legislative committee that would review land use laws for their fairness. I hope Rep. Strang Burgess will stand her ground in her considered opposition to the minority report when the issue comes back to the House after Senate action on the measure.

Dudley Greeley
Cumberland

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