It may be public access or use of the facility by the town or something else the planning board and council believe provides long-term benefit for residents. The applicant is legally bound by the contract to complete the project as specified. He or she cannot abandon the project or change the parameters. Some have alleged that contract zoning is a developer's tool. Planning board vice-chairman David Einhorn has repeatedly dispelled that notion.
Contract zoning reduces a developer's options and costs money.
At the various hearings this spring, an opponent of contract zoning and proponent for a change in a rural district of Hulls Cove to allow a retirement community has argued that townspeople go to sleep at night knowing that the have Land Use Zoning Ordinance and that ordinance gives them protection. The project he espouses would be an ideal candidate for contract zoning. It would be limited to a specific site. Prior to a town meeting vote, the applicant would work out concerns of neighbors. And neighbors would know that the applicant could not arbitrarily change his or her mind.