Theo Holtwijk, planning director in Brunswick, said this trend is starkly evident in his town, which saw 694 homes go up in the 1990s, yet had a population rise of only 266 people. In coastal Maine, an influx of retirees observed by local planners has raised populations and, in some cases, created social friction. Lincoln County saw its population rise by 10.7 percent, and coastal towns are bearing the brunt of the change. Esther Lacognata, a planner at the Midcoast Council for Business Planning and Development, said that residents of Bremen, a fishing village with a small summer population, have enacted a building moratorium. She said fishermen are afraid they will be driven out by rising property values, as affluent retirees buy up coastal lots and houses.
People are scared to death they're in line for a commuting or a telecommuting population.
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