“Why would you want to live like this?,” my father asked when we purchased our home in Falmouth’s Tidewater Farms. “You have no acreage. No privacy. No room for a swimming pool.”

Growing up in Maine I knew that standard home-buying procedure meant having a center-hall Colonial on two acres of land with a 75-foot buffer between all neighbors. However, I didn’t balk at the idea of living in Tidewater. Falmouth’s commercial district would be our “back yard.” We would have “downtown” within walking distance, a rare luxury in Maine.

Rivalries, a sports bar in Portland, would like to open an 11,400-square-foot sports bar on a small parcel of land behind Wal-Mart in Falmouth. The lot, and the adjoining Tidewater Village neighborhood, are not zoned to accommodate an over-sized bar, nor equipped to provide the necessary parking. In fact, overflow parking would line the streets of Tidewater Farms.

Our 10-year-old daughter joins other young children in Tidewater in walking the family dog, riding bikes and visiting friends. No parent wants their children to lose the freedom to roam their neighborhood due to a concern for loitering, heavy traffic and drunk drivers. We were willing to sacrifice a swimming pool to live in Tidewater, but we are not willing to sacrifice the safety of our daughter.

Making changes to the current zoning regulations would disrupt the harmonious balance between community and commerce along Route 1. Please encourage the Falmouth Town Council to reject the changes proposed by Rivalries.

Michelle Bourget
Falmouth