By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — It is an example of giving the people what they want. What they want is a voice in the continued development of Naples.

Residents have been commenting and complaining about the aesthetics of Naples and the late-night noise in Naples. The selectmen and the staff at the town hall hear it all the time through phone calls, e-mails and letters.

So, a public forum is being planned for mid-August, during which time residents can air their views and have a say-so in the direction that Naples is heading.

On Monday, Chairman Jim Grattelo handed over his gavel to the vice chair so he could speak as a citizen rather than an elected official.

“There is no question that Naples is at a crossroads. We continue to receive complaints. We have ordinances being violated. The character of our town is being questioned right now,” he said.

“We are either going to take a route that is going toward Old Orchard Beach and Windham, or we are going to take a route that goes toward Camden, Rockport, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport,” Grattelo said.

“And, I believe strongly that the citizens spoke several years ago and it is time for them to speak again,” he said.

The Naples Board of Selectmen will be holding a public forum in the middle of August for all residents, year-round and seasonal. The town will send postcard invitations to all residents; and the public forum will be advertised once a date is set.

“It is time for the people of Naples to stand up and speak, and determine once and for all what the Town of Naples is going to look like,” Grattelo said.

“We receive complaints, we receive noise complaints. Our code enforcement officer is inundated with complaints of ordinances being broken. We passed a new sign ordinance. Several of those [sections] are not being followed,” he said. “The list goes on and on.”

“It is time for the citizens to speak,” he said.

“I am sure Old Orchard Beach and Windham didn’t plan for their towns to end up the way they did. We have to make sure that it’s not too late for Naples,” Grattelo said.

In the past year or so, the selectmen have passed five emergency moratoriums, he said. In fact, it was renewing a six-month moratorium to prevent retails and business property from becoming residential on the Causeway.

“You cannot run a town based on emergency moratoriums,” Grattelo said.

“We came this close to having an adult toy store on the Causeway because we didn’t have any zoning to prohibit it. We hear noise complaints from residents who have the right to enjoy their property. We have complaints about the digital signs that are on 24-7.  We have a stack of Shoreland Zoning violations. I don’t even have enough paper to list the Shoreland Zoning,” Grattelo said.

“Yet, what we do is we make the new guy who comes to town, we make him follow all the rules. Then, he points to his neighbors and wonders why they don’t have to follow the rules. We have several people who have chosen not to follow the ordinances,” he said.

“This is no way to run a town. This is crazy,” he said.

Grattelo repeated that there was an urgent need to hold a public forum on these issues in Naples.

He said that a woman came before the board during public participation at a meeting earlier in the month and she asked the board what the vision of the town is.

“Tonight, we are going to hire a planner, which is desperately needed so that we can get our arms around this town,” Grattelo said.

He said one flaw is that several town ordinances do not have penalties spelled out for violations.

Grattelo said he owns five businesses in Portland and considers himself to be very pro-business. He said that town leaders can embrace being both pro-business and establishing “reasonable rules and regulations.”

“It cannot be a free-for-all. It cannot be the wild west,” Grattelo said.

“We have to get ahead of this or you — and I am talking to the people out there — you are going to lose your town,” he said.

After Grattelo spoke, Selectman Jim Turpin asked for some history on people’s attitude about zoning.

“When the subject of zoning comes up, I get the impression there is lukewarm enthusiasm about zoning,” Turpin said. “Why is that?”

Selectman Kevin Rogers fielded the question.

“The old-school thought is, ‘Don’t tell me how to run my property.’ That is what I have heard. The reason that there is zoning is that we needed it. We needed to regulate certain areas of town,” Rogers said.

He commented that a planner could help with more specific zoning and regulations.

Turpin replied, “I have heard the subject come up before. But I get the vibe that a lot of people don’t want to be told what they can do with their property.”

Grattelo spoke again.

“I think the sentiment is that they want Naples to remain a nice, quaint village,” he said.