Resident says 30‑acre family parcel could supply 480 homes but notes zoning and utility hurdles

John Whiting, who said he lives in Otisfield, used the public‑comment portion of the meeting to describe a 30‑acre family parcel near Auburn city hall and to offer it as an example of development potential if utilities and zoning align with the city’s future land‑use vision.

"Thirty acres at 16 units per acre is 480 housing units," Whiting told the committee, and he said the property has been in his family since 1892. He described current constraints: the parcel is zoned rural residential (about one unit per acre), city water is roughly a quarter‑mile away, and the nearest city sewer is about three‑quarters of a mile away.

Whiting said he had talked with city staff about options, but that staff advised him to delay a formal rezoning request until the committee’s growth‑area work proceeds. He asked the committee to consider whether growth‑area criteria that require existing utilities could exclude sites like his even when they might become feasible with investment.

Chair John Cleveland thanked Whiting and told him the meeting was part of a multi‑step process; staff will follow up about upcoming opportunities for the speaker to return as the map and policies are refined. Whiting said he would remain in touch with staff and monitor the committee’s work.

Context: The committee is developing principles to guide a draft future land‑use map and will ask staff and consultants to prepare a preliminary map for review at the Nov. 18 meeting. Whiting’s parcel was raised as a local example of the tradeoffs between density goals and utility costs.