Bangor planning board recommends city council approve zoning change for Needlepoint Sanctuary at 1009 Ohio Street

The Bangor City Planning Board voted 5–1, with one member recused, on Oct. 21, 2025, to recommend the City Council approve a zoning map amendment changing 1009 Ohio Street (Map Lot R23013B) from Neighborhood Service District to Government and Institutional Service District to accommodate services proposed by Needlepoint Sanctuary.

The board’s recommendation follows more than an hour of testimony from the applicant, board members and more than a dozen public speakers. William Hurley, director of Needlepoint Sanctuary, told the board the organization plans “to create a recovery and harm reduction community center” at the Ohio Street site, providing recovery meetings, day-center services and, three times per week, harm-reduction services including sterile supplies to reduce disease and overdose risks.

The vote matters because the planning board’s decision is only a recommendation; the City Council has final zoning authority. Chair Rhys Perkins explained the next step: “The next step is it goes to the city council, for the city council to overturn an ought to pass that, we have presented to them. They have to have a 60% It's 2 thirds majority to overturn.”

Why it mattered: supporters said the change aligns with the 2022 Bangor Comprehensive Plan goal to “improve access to social and health services” and argued…