Your story about bills still facing the Legislature (“Divisive issues loom in Augusta,” BDN, April 15-16) characterized LD 1481 as the “Big Box” bill and said it was “inspired by large retail stores such as Wal-Mart.” That is wrong on both counts.

LD 1481 is supported by a diverse coalition that includes the Maine Real Estate & Development Association (MEREDA), the Maine State Housing Authority, the Southern Maine Affordable Rental Housing Coalition, the Maine Association of REALTORS, Goodwill Industries of Northern New England and the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Maine. Our coalition is hardly a stalking horsefor big box developers.

We support LD 1481 because it is fair, common-sense legislation. It says simply that once a developer has gone through the local approvals process and received a land use permit, citizens will still have 75 days in which to retroactively change the criteria forissuing that permit.

Developing any new project, whether it is affordable housing or a commercial facility, involves risk. It takes a significant amount of money for land acquisition, engineering, planning, legal and many other up-front costs. LD 1481 recognizes that risk and investment.

On the other hand, citizens should have the right to decide what kind of development is appropriate for their town. LD 1481 encourages citizen action like we saw recently in Damariscotta where voters decided to limit the size of retail developments in their town. They took this action early on in the process, which is how it should be.

LD 1481 gives developers some assurance that their lawfully obtained approvals will not be withdrawn after a reasonable amount of time. It also gives local citizens adequate opportunity to make their voices heard.

It gives each side what it needs and should be adopted by the Legislature.

Jon Dawson

Carol Epstein

Bangor