A petition has been initiated designed to prevent online giant Amazon from building a Gorham distribution center.
The campaign has already amassed hundreds of signatures from across the state, not only in the town where the warehouse would be located.
“Amazon is a bad deal for Gorham,” says the headline on the signature effort.
The company is seeking town approval for a 158,000-square-foot facility on municipal property along Main Street.
Amazon is slated to pay the town $4 million to buy the land.
“Amazon’s proposal runs in direct conflict with Gorham’s Comprehensive Plan, which states that ‘our vision of Gorham is a neighborly community and the most desirable place in Maine to live, raise a family or build a business in a healthy, robust and aesthetically pleasing environment,’” the petition states.
“While we support investment in local businesses and the creation of stable, full-time jobs in our community,” its organizers say, “we recognize that the proposed deal with Amazon will not move us closer to these goals and will instead undermine them.”
The petitioners are asking those signing the document if they would be willing to pledge money to pay a required $135,000 penalty to Amazon if the purchase-and-sale contract is voided.
Southern Maine Citizens Launch Campaign Trying To Cancel Planned Amazon Warehouse
By Ted Cohen
