For decades, Gorham has been a poster child of the suburban experiment, and it is failing. If you need proof, look around. Taxes are spiking while the schools fight for adequate funding every year.

But there is another way. Rather than waiting for big businesses and mega project developers from outside to swoop in and save us, we can save ourselves. Together, we can build a Gorham that is safe, prosperous, and affordable. We can build a Gorham we are proud of, together.

I get it, you’ve probably heard that before. But there are things we can do today that will set Gorham on the path toward becoming a strong town. We can:

• Remove the Sprinkler Ordinance. Anyone who has built in a place that required sprinkler ordinances knows how onerous this ordinance is. Complying with this ordinance can cost a builder $10,000+ per unit. That cost often torpedoes projects, especially small-scale projects like adding an in-law apartment or the 800sqft cottage on a single-family lot. Removing his would allow small-scale developers to add to their property, which in turn allows Gorham to add housing without relying on mega-projects.

• Remove Town-Mandated Parking. If you’ve spent time in the Gorham village, you may have noticed the large parking lots that always have extra space. Currently, Gorham has a complex matrix for determining how much parking a builder is required to build, but somehow, it seems the final development always has too much parking. Parking spaces that are only used once a year is a massive waste of land in a prime location. It would be much more effective to leave it to the builder to decide how much parking they build. Businesses and developers have a better idea of how much parking they need than the town does. Businesses and developers for examples, know that housing and businesses in rural areas need parking, and if they don’t build enough they go out of business!

• Create a Property Improvement Tax Exemption. When a Gorham resident improves their property, their taxes go up. When the next-door absentee owner lets their property fall into disrepair, they get a tax break. Do we want to be incentivizing negligence and disincentivizing stewardship? A property improvement exemption would stop incentivizing neglect, because letting a house fall down won’t save the owner any taxes.

• Narrow Streets in Village Areas. South Street, where I live, has a speed limit of 25, but cars regularly do 40. I get it, that street makes it easy to do 40. The way to encourage drivers to do 25 in a 25 is to make the street narrower, so going 40 feels claustrophobic. We could experiment on day 1 by setting out temporary traffic cones, and if they work, they could be converted into permanent bollards.

• End Gorham’s Support for the Highway Expansion. While Westbrook and Scarborough have formally rescinded their support of the proposed highway expansion, Gorham still supports it. Furthermore, Town staff lobbied against a State bill that would’ve killed this proposal, which shows they still hope it will be built. Gorham Town Council must formally rescind support in order to end this expansion once and for all, and give residents of South Gorham certainty as they plan for the future.

• Remove Redundant Permitting Processes. Gorham seems to have some permitting processes that overlap with those of the State of Maine. This adds obstacles for local entrepreneurs while being completely unnecessary. A review of all permitting and removal of redundant permitting would go a long way towards making Gorham business friendly.

All these policies encourage development by local people in places where Gorham has already built infrastructure. This allows Gorham to grow the tax base without building more infrastructure, which means there will be more money in the budget to spend on non-infrastructure, like schools, police, and fire.

These policies are the most obvious, immediate steps that I would take as a member of the council to set Gorham on a path of safety, prosperity, and affordability.