Over the past four months, the Anchor has published a series of articles summarizing key aspects of the town’s draft comprehensive plan. In this article, a framework for a revised Future Land Use Plan will be presented.
The Future Land Use Plan is intended to guide future land use decisions and reflect the goals and objectives of the community. As such, it is a singularly important part of the comprehensive plan.
An earlier version of the Future Land Use Plan was published late last year and was a topic of discussion at public meetings held throughout town. It featured nine unique “districts,” including districts for “mixed use” development, attainable housing, working waterfront villages, areas with high-density residential development, Mitchell Field, shoreland areas, unbridged islands, Eagle Island, and the Interior Zone.
Armed with feedback from the public, the Comprehensive Plan Task Force decided to modify this approach and develop something that would be simpler while still addressing community concerns. What follows is a framework for a revised Future Land Use Plan:
The revised future land use plan will reduce the number of land use districts by eliminating multiuse and attainable housing districts. It also will establish five basic land use categories to build the plan, as follows:
- Developed areas, to include traditional villages (e.g., Cundy’s Harbor) and somewhat higher-density residential areas (e.g., northern Bailey Island). Development in these areas would allow a mix of residential and nonresidential structures that are consistent with existing properties and do not impact existing water use.
- Shoreland areas, which would be developed according to current ordinances and codes, except that Commercial Fishing Zones 1 and 2 would be merged to limit teardowns and expansions for residential use. Setbacks for new construction would be increased from 75 feet to 100 feet, and more stringent elevation requirements would be implemented. The net effect would be to protect fishing access and activity while accounting for the effects of sea-level rise.
- Natural resource protection areas (e.g., wetlands, streams, bird habitats), in which development would be limited.
- Rural areas, which would encompass most of the remaining land (i.e., the Interior Zone). Development here would include both residential and nonresidential structures. Development of smaller homes on smaller lots would be permitted if certain conditions are met.
- Unbridged Islands, where future development would be governed by existing ordinances in order to preserve their rural, natural character.
More work needs to be done before the revised Future Land Use Plan is fleshed out and presented to the public for further discussion. However, progress is being made.
As always, information will be posted on the town website and presented at future meetings of the Comprehensive Plan Task Force, which are open to the public. The task force meets at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.
