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Rangeley selectmen review draft comprehensive plan, aim for June town meeting
Summary
Consultant Donna presented the first batch of a multi-part draft comprehensive plan, saying maps will go to an appendix and housing and climate chapters are priorities; the board was asked to review and return major concerns at the next meeting so the plan can move toward a June town meeting public hearing.
Donna (presenter) told the Rangeley selectmen on Jan. 6 that the town's updated comprehensive plan is being delivered in multiple batches with a goal of having the document ready for the June town meeting.
"The ideas start with the word consider. They do not start with require," Donna said, emphasizing that the draft is intended as a roadmap rather than a set of mandates.
The draft's first package combines water and natural resources and eliminates redundancies with the previous plan, Donna said. She said the team consolidated chapters and intends to move the maps into an 11-by-17 color appendix for readability and easier updates. The plan will be delivered in several rounds; Donna said she expects a second package covering the economy (including agriculture, forestry and outdoor recreation) and a later package containing the future land-use plan and zoning recommendations.
The plan identifies housing as the top problem the consultants heard from residents and business owners. "Housing, I would say, by far, housing is the number 1 issue that we heard no matter who we were talking to," Donna said. She told the board the housing chapter will include ideas to address workforce housing and out-migration of younger residents.
Donna also said state requirements now call for a climate-change chapter and that the team is collecting both anecdotal and objective weather data to document trends. She noted the team is seeking National Weather Service data and that local sewer-department precipitation and snowfall records may help show long-term trends. "As we've been going through the process, we've always asked the question of everyone, what have you seen in terms of climate change?" Donna said.
Joe (staff member) and other committee members were named as sources for demographic and transportation work provided through regional partners. Donna said the consultant team had met with local businesses, the historical society and regional stakeholders, and that contributors included Wendy, Steve Hewins (historic resources), Nathan Kaye (Seven Islands/Forest Service contact), and others.
The board and staff discussed process and timing: selectmen were asked to review the materials for substantive omissions or factual errors (not copyediting) and to return major concerns to Joe at the board's next meeting so the committee can proceed to round two. Donna and other presenters said they will organize public review and hearings as required by state review procedures; she clarified that the state does not "approve" the plan's policy choices but will check whether the plan covers required topics.
Selectmen discussed holding board-level and ordinance/implementation workshops before a final public draft is released, and they planned to post chapters online as they reach a public-ready form. Donna said the committee is aiming to avoid producing a single unwieldy 160-page package for the public to see for the first time in June.
Next steps: the consultant team will deliver the next package of chapters, the selectmen will report substantive feedback to Joe at the next meeting (roughly two weeks), and the committee will schedule public hearings and state review consistent with statutory timelines.
