On Monday, (Sept. 10), the Cape Elizabeth Town Council will hold a public hearing to gather input on recommendations and findings contained in a draft update to the town's 1993 Comprehensive Plan.
    The plan itself is an impressive document. Thorough,  yet accessible to the average reader, the plan offers the public a variety of statistics and facts about the community, the town's economy, open space and financial wherewithal.
    A contentious piece of the plan are recommendations to allow high density in certain residential neighborhoods, while discouraging it in others.
    At the same time, a proposal to build a senior oriented condominium complex with more than 45 units in an existing residential neighborhood targets for growth is headed toward the planning board with opposition already being registered.
    While the comprehensive plan aims to take a broader view of development trends, the two issues are sure to be conflated  at Monday's meeting as neighbors who have learned about the condominium proposal focus on the document that encourages such a project to be constructed where it is proposed.
    The Comprehensive Plan makes an extensive case for more affordable, higher density housing that offers an alternative to the predominant single family home.
    But such projects must be built somewhere and the town's preference for where that housing should be is well and long- established.
    Dramatically changing such policies at this point in the process, may be difficult. But those who disagree and don't speak up will have ten years or more to fine tune their arguments before the next comprehensive plan is drafted.                        –Ward Peck